


Deep Trouble

by roeskva



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Apocalypse, Big Bang Challenge, Drama, F/M, Gen, Tok'ra
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-20
Updated: 2012-07-23
Packaged: 2017-11-10 08:47:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 29
Words: 72,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/464421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roeskva/pseuds/roeskva
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Goes AU from "In the Line of Duty". When Apophis returned with his ships to take his revenge on the Tau'ri, the only option was escape. Exiled on another planet with a minimum amount of supplies and allies, the plan is still to take back Earth. The only hitch? Their best chance at beating the Goa'uld is a Goa'uld, specifically a rebel named Jolinar who has taken Sam as a host. With Jolinar's allegiance uncertain, she must win over the trust of the Tau'ri and their leaders before she can return to the Tok'ra to forge an alliance that could change the galaxy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. An Unpleasant Surprise

**Author's Note:**

> * denotes host/symbiote internal communication. Written for Stargate Big Bang 2012 on Livejournal
> 
> Awesome art by pattrose (http://pattrose.livejournal.com/386670.html) and xenharmonica (http://xenharmonica.livejournal.com/2274.html)
> 
> Thank you to my wonderful betas, skarpedin and pagan twylight!

_Earth, July 3rd 1998_  
  
"I believe Jolinar speaks the truth," Teal'c said.  
  
"Look, he told me about this resistance. Now, they have a totally different way of life from the Goa'uld we know. They don't believe in taking hosts against their will," Daniel added.  
  
"Right, like Carter and this Nasyan guy?" O'Neill sounded sarcastic.  
  
"No, he had no choice. He wants to leave Carter," Daniel argued.  
  
" But if they don't believe in taking hosts, how do they survive?" Hammond wondered.  
  
"They take humans who are about to die. Who choose to continue to live and co-exist with the Goa'uld. Now according to Jolinar this can be a rewarding relationship," Daniel said.  
  
The telephone rang, temporarily pausing the meeting as Hammond went to answer it.  
  
"Hammond." He listened for some time. "You're sure? Who is it?" Hammond's expression darkened. "I see... and you are certain? Of course. We will start the evacuations at once. Goodbye." He looked at Daniel, O'Neill, and Teal'c. "That was NASA. They've spotted two motherships coming this way, having just emerged from behind the moon."  
  
" _Motherships_ !" O'Neill exclaimed, disbelief evident on his face. "We've just fought off one of those bastards for Christ's sake, and there's  _already_ another one coming for us? Which Goa'uld is it  _this_ time?"  
  
"It's still Apophis. Apparently his ships weren't destroyed and NASA thinks they've been hiding behind the moon, while effecting repairs. Air Forces around the planet are scrambling whatever defences they can put up, but it will only be a matter of time - less than a day - before Apophis is here. It means we're starting evacuations to the Alpha site  _immediately_."  
  
"What about Sam?" Daniel asked.  
  
"She - and Jolinar - will be evacuated to the Alpha site. We don't know enough to be certain if we can trust Jolinar, but he can be useful in any case."  
  
"Useful..." Daniel frowned, worried this would mean as a guinea pig for ways to incapacitate or kill a Goa'uld most efficiently.  
  


* * *

Since the Nasyans had already started arriving from the hospital, they were sent offworld while the groups that were going to the Alpha site were assembled. This was made somewhat easier by the fact that much had been prepared for the evacuation that had begun the first time Apophis attacked Earth, a few weeks ago.   
  
Siler had spent time making lists of everything that would be needed, as well as tracking down the best places to get everything from, how much was stored where, and how to best transport it to Cheyenne Mountain and on to the Alpha site.   
  
He had even considered the logistics of how to get the large quantities of food and other supplies through the Stargate as fast as possible. The solution he had come up with was unusual, but ingenious. They would use a long conveyor belt at the Alpha site, which could transport the crates away from the Stargate as they came through, meaning they would avoid building up a pile just on the other side of it, forming a bottleneck when they had to evacuate quickly. Those people who had already come through, would then stand in lines and move crates off the conveyor belt and further away, avoiding congestion.   
  
Hammond had agreed to Siler's plans, and also that they should go forward with the implementation of them quickly, even if an attack had just been fought off. Who knew when there would next be a crisis that required evacuation? They had, after all, acquired several enemies in the short time they had been going out into the Galaxy, and would likely find more. Because of this, Hammond had ordered them to begin installing the conveyor belt immediately, and it had in fact just been installed the day before - which now turned out to be excellent timing.    
  
Helicopters continued flying food and supplies to Cheyenne Mountain. It was lowered through the large door in the roof, and down just in front of the Stargate. It was then taken through the wormhole, together with the many people that were walking through at an almost constant speed.   
  
Some supplies were already at the Alpha site, but it was not nearly enough for the thousands of people they hoped to evacuate. There was also not enough housing, meaning tents, sleeping bags, and blankets were needed. Fortunately, it was still summer at the Alpha site.   
  
There was a river close by, with clean fresh water, so that would not be a problem, at least, and was one thing less to worry about. Fuel was required for the diesel generators - which would only give enough electricity to small parts of the complex anyway. Clothes, food, weapons, ammunition, and medical supplies, were all needed in large amounts.   
  
Because so much food would be needed, they had decided to focus only on ready-made meals, like MREs. Apart from it being more convenient to transport and store, that would also cut down on the gear needed for preparing food, and it also had a longer shelf-life. That was a very important reason, given that access to refrigerators and freezers would be extremely limited.   
  


* * *

"Where are you taking us?" Jolinar demanded, when Teal'c arrived with a group of guards, and opened the holding cell.  
  
"Apophis is attacking. We are evacuating," Teal'c said.  
  
"The ashrak?"  
  
"Unknown."  
  
Jolinar nodded, but did not inquire further and just followed Teal'c and the guards quietly.  
  
The corridors and everywhere they passed, were in chaos. People were running back and forth with supplies, refugees were being hurried towards the Stargate - all clear signs of the evacuation happening as quickly as possible. It reminded Jolinar of the Tok'ra tunnels, when the System Lords had been spotted, on their way to attack them. The situation here was much the same - an underground military base being attacked by the Goa'uld. The difference was that the Tok'ra could usually flee with all their people and most of the belongings. Here, that was not possible. Jolinar saw from Sam's mind that there was too much stuff - and far, far too many people, a whole planet full of them, in fact.  
  
Jolinar felt sorry for them, and for all those many people that would now be subjugated, killed,  _enslaved_ , by Apophis. Yet, there was nothing to be done, at least at this point.  
  


* * *

It happened when they left the elevator on the floor where the gateroom was located. Suddenly, in all the chaos, Jolinar sensed an energy signature. It was brief, but Teal'c was the only other one she should have been able to sense. He was behind her, but this was ahead of her. It could only be the ashrak.  
  
She quickly looked around, and tried feeling for the signature again. It was somewhat difficult, because of the nearness of the Stargate, but after a few moments she was certain. It was gone. That meant the ashrak was at least 50 feet ahead of her - inside the gateroom, probably about to step through the Stargate. He would then hide on the planet and wait for an opportunity to kill Jolinar - and she would be behind bars.  
  
Jolinar stopped and turned to Teal'c. "For a moment, I sensed an energy signature ahead of us."  
  
"The ashrak," Teal'c said, immediately raising his weapon.  
  
"Almost certainly," Jolinar agreed. "I do not sense him now - he must be further ahead, in the gateroom."  
  
Teal'c nodded. He activated his radio. "Shut down the Stargate. The ashrak is in the gateroom." He listened. "Yes, O'Neill." He turned to Jolinar. "You will be able to point him out when we get there?"  
  
They heard the sound of the iris sliding in place in front of the Stargate.  
  
"Yes."  
  
Teal'c directed his attention to the guards. "Be prepared. We are to take the ashrak alive - if possible."  
  
Cautiously, they walked towards the entrance to the gateroom. They had only taken a few steps when Jolinar sensed the ashrak again.  
  
"I sense him," Jolinar told Teal'c. "Do not forget - that means he will also sense me... and you. He knows we are coming."  
  
Teal'c nodded. "I am aware of this."  
  
"I assume the humans of this installation will not allow me to have a weapon?" Jolinar said, more as a comment than an actual question.  
  
"Regrettably not,  _however_..."  
  


* * *

They walked through the door and into the gateroom. The symbiote's energy signature was masked somewhat by the Stargate, making it harder for Jolinar to pinpoint the ashrak's position accurately. She looked around the almost full room. Most of the Nasyans had made it through, but refugees from Earth had begun to assemble and ship out as well. Among them where fairly many soldiers, all armed. The ashrak would have his traditional hara'kesh, but he would most likely have gotten his hands on a local weapon as well.   
  
It would be close to impossible to get the ashrak without wounding or killing several others.   
  
"The dark-haired man in the camouflage uniform, near the bottom of the ramp. He wears a black beret," Jolinar whispered to Teal'c.   
  
At the same moment, the ashrak grabbed hold of a man beside him and raised his weapon. He flashed his eyes and shouted, "Open the _Stargate_. Now! Or I shall kill a great many of you, starting with this man!" He tightened his grip.   
  
"Surrender. They will never let you go!" Teal'c told him.   
  
"Jaffa. _Shol'vah_." The ashrak turned his attention to the woman standing beside Teal'c. "I see you have caught my prey. Give her to me and let us go, and I shall not harm anyone else."  
  
"Jolinar has taken one of our own as a host and is our prisoner!" O'Neill shouted, just as he ran into the room. "As you'll be soon enough!"  
  
"You have surrendered to them? To _humans_? How despicable!" The ashrak snorted. "The mighty Jolinar - stooping so low! You are hardly even worthy of my skill!"  
  
"Then leave, if you feel the mission is beneath you. I am certain Cronus will easily forgive you going back on your word - not to mention the Ashrak Guild." Jolinar snorted.  
  
"Kresh'ta orac!" the ashrak hissed. "Tok'ra shol'vah."  
  
"Okay, stop that!" O'Neill ordered. "It's just not polite talking a language not everyone present understands."  
  
"Ha'shak," the ashrak snarled, again tightening the grip on his hostage. "Last chance - let me go or he dies!"  
  
"As you wish." Teal'c suddenly said, surprising them all. "It is Jolinar you want. Take her - and let that man go!" He pushed Jolinar towards the ashrak, who quickly snatched her, releasing his previous hostage.  
  
"Excellent, shol'vah. A belated realization of who is superior here." He sneered arrogantly.  
  
"You realize he will kill me if you let him go? While you do not care for my life, your Captain's life will be forfeit as well!" Jolinar told them.  
  
"Begging for your life, Tok'ra?" the ashrak grinned.  
  
Jolinar looked coldly at him. "Hear this. The days of the Goa'uld System Lords are numbered. Tell them that I died with hope. My death only feeds the fire that burns strong in the Tok'ra."  
  
The ashrak scoffed, but did not deign to answer her. "Let me go, and no one else shall be harmed." He waved the MP5 at them, using his other hand to keep the hand-cuffed Jolinar in a tight hold.  
  
Thinking Jolinar was not a threat, he did not keep much attention on her. That was an error, when suddenly Jolinar's handcuffs fell to the ground and she whipped out a pistol, emptying the magazine into the ashrak before anyone else had time to react.  
  
For a few moments afterwards, everyone stood as stunned, the only sound that of the ashrak falling to the ground, dead. Then it was suddenly a chaos of motion around them. Jolinar calmly walked up to Teal'c and handed him the weapon, bowing her head respectfully to him.


	2. On the Run

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The refugees from Earth look for a new home.

_Alpha Site, July 5th 1998_   
  
After conquering her pitiful defences, Apophis had spent time laying waste to some of Earth's major cities, reducing them to dust. The SGC had exploited this tactical error and accelerated their evacuations, continuing to the very last moment.   
  
"Apophis's forces are breaking through!" O'Neill shouted, running towards Hammond who stood in the gateroom, overseeing the evacuation. "Time for you to leave, sir. We'll keep the fort while the rest gets through."   
  
Hammond shook his head. "No, Colonel. I'm staying here until the last group here is through."   
  
O'Neill nodded, accepting his choice. "We'll try to give you guys as much time as possible."   
  


* * *

Worried, Hammond looked at the open wormhole. He checked his watch - 30 seconds since the last person came through, and still no sign of O'Neill. At least no enemies had come through either, but without an iris they were not safe here, and needed to get people on to the Alpha world.   
  
He looked at the group of guards standing around the Stargate with their weapons raised, and sighed. It had been the Goa'uld Jolinar's suggestion that they send the last few groups of people to a stop-over world instead of directly to the intended Alpha site, P3X-984 - should any of Apophis's people reach the gateroom and see the address before the wormhole shut down. They were continuing the evacuation for as long as possible, so it was a very real risk that the address would be gleaned, and he had given the order to follow her suggestion.   
  
Suddenly two men came through the Stargate, supporting each other. They stumbled through and fell, several staff blasts following them, but fortunately no one was hit.   
  
"It's the Colonel and Ferretti, sir!" One of the guards yelled, as he and a couple others pulled the two men away from the immediate danger, should anyone else come through.   
  
Hammond was relieved to see they had made it, and very much hoped they were all right. He checked his watch again. The wormhole had been open for just under 37 minutes. They had no way of shutting it off here, so they just had to wait. He sighed and looked towards the event horizon, hoping they were lucky.   
  
He had barely finished the thought, before the first Jaffa came through, and the guards started firing at them.   
  


* * *

It had been tense for just over one minute, as groups of Jaffa kept coming through the wormhole, but finally the Stargate shut down, and the man standing ready to dial ran for the DHD. They hopefully had an edge there, as Apophis would have to dial manually, since the SGC dialling computer had - hopefully - been destroyed. If it was not, Hammond did not doubt that he would have had time to figure out how to use it - or that one of his underlings had - but the system was much slower than using the DHD's.   
  
The Stargate activated and Hammond held his breath, fearing Apophis had somehow dialled in first. Teal'c had informed them that the Goa'uld sometimes carried small dialling devices, but also that Apophis would probably not risk coming into the gateroom himself before he was certain it was secure - and that he would probably not give the device to a Jaffa, even if he one.   
  
"Connection to the Alpha site established, sir," Harriman shouted.   
  
Hammond relaxed. "Start sending people through as fast as possible!"   
  
"Yes, sir."   
  


* * *

"Shouldn't you be lying down, Jack?" Daniel asked.  
  
"Yes, he should," Janet answered from the other end of the provisional infirmary. "And he will do so immediately, if he wants to be released this week."  
  
"Aach, you promised, Doctor!" O'Neill complained, but dutifully laid down - partially, at least.  
  
Janet shook her head, but left him alone.  
  
"It is good to see your condition is improving, O'Neill," Teal'c said.  
  
"It's not too bad - fortunately, the Jaffa had bad aim, and the shot only grazed my shoulder."  
  
"What about your leg, then?" Daniel pointed to the bandage.   
  
"Knife-wound." O'Neill winced as he moved the leg. "One of the bastards stabbed me when I tried to take his zat. How's Ferretti?"  
  
"Still unconscious, but the doctors are sure he'll pull through," Daniel told him.  
  
O'Neill nodded, somewhat relieved. "What a mess! Who would have guessed that damn snake Apophis would hide out behind the moon and come back for us!" He slowly shook his head. "How many got away?"  
  
"With those that were already at the Alpha site, we're almost ten thousand," Daniel said.  
  
"Only ten thousand! That's all that's left of the entire planet?" O'Neill exclaimed.  
  
"While Apophis has bombarded several of your larger cities, the majority of your planets population is undoubtedly still alive," Teal'c said. "They will be enslaved, and many will certainly die during the occupation, but your world is far from dead."  
  
"True, but right now I don't see how we're going to free them." O'Neill looked despondent, not something he often did. "What about Carter and the snake?"  
  
"Captain Carter and the Tok'ra Jolinar are in a holding cell. Regrettably, there seems to be little willingness to consider the possibility she could be an ally," Teal'c said.  
  
"Oh, come on, Teal'c! You're not saying you're willing to trust a Goa'uld? One that's taken Carter, no less!" O'Neill exclaimed.  
  
"I would never trust a Goa'uld, but Jolinar is not one. I am firmly convinced the Tok'ra of legend are indeed real, and that she is one of them."  
  
"So that's why you gave him... err, _her_ a  _gun_ ? I'll admit, that worked out pretty well, but  _still_ !"  
  
"It would not have been in Jolinar's own interest to betray that trust. The ashrak was a common enemy - as much a threat to her as to us." Teal'c seemed to consider. "Goa'uld often take on the gender of the host, so 'her' would be correct, O'Neill."  
  
O'Neill grumbled something in a low voice, but did not repeat it loud enough for anyone to hear. He sighed and decided to forget about it. What happened in the gateroom was no longer important. "Are they going to try and remove the Goa'uld?"  
  
"No, we didn't have much luck with that when Kawalsky was taken - and the infirmary here only has the most basic equipment. They won't attempt it," Daniel said. "Jolinar has promised to leave Sam - if we'll just let him...  _her_ go. She says she'll send Sam back when she finds a new host."  
  
"I hope you're not believing  _that_ !"  
  
"I don't know..." Daniel frowned. "I can't say I like the idea of a Goa'uld - or whatever it is - in Sam, but I'm beginning to suspect Teal'c is right. Jolinar is no ordinary Goa'uld. It doesn't matter what I think, though, since those in charge are not going to listen."  
  
O'Neill nodded, looking concerned. He knew very well what would happen. In a situation like this, basic human right were not worth much, and the laws from home would not be upheld if it suited the leaders not to. A Goa'uld had conquered Earth, and they now had a Goa'uld in their power. Jolinar would be interrogated, and perhaps even subjected to medical experimentation. O'Neill did not really care what happened to Jolinar, but what happened to her would harm Sam as well, and he  did care about his team mate and friend.  
  


* * *

*Samantha?* Jolinar again tried to talk to her host, who had ignored almost all of her attempts to do so, except for brief, hurtful remarks. *Fine, if you do not wish to talk with me, then do not do so, but it would seem we are going to be together for a long time, most of which I fear may not be pleasant. I apologize for both.*  
  
Sam 'snorted'. *Why don't you leave me then, if you're sorry for what you've done?*  
  
*I have offered to leave you as soon as another host can be found!*  
  
*Yeah, fat chance of that!*  
  
*I realize it does not seem likely to happen in the near future, such as things have developed. However, without the assistance of my people, we would have to wait for at least a month before I attempt to leave you - whether there was a host available or not. I have already changed hosts twice in less than a year, and it should not be done more often than once a year - at the very most. The odds are not in favour of either of us surviving, if I attempted to leave immediately.*  
  
*Wonderful!* Sam sounded sarcastic. *I'm sure there's some people here that will be thrilled - they've got their own Goa'uld to interrogate and experiment on... and I get to share the fun!*  
  
*I  _have_ said I am sorry.* Jolinar sighed. *I do not relish this thought either, though from what I see from your mind, it does seem a likely outcome.*  
  
*You've read my mind! Well, of course, you have - that's what your kind does.  Take what you need from your host's mind, without asking!*  
  
*That is what Goa'uld do! Tok'ra do  not force anything from their hosts mind. We take only with permission, unless it is absolutely necessary. Why do you think I made the errors I did before I was caught at your base? If I had just taken all the knowledge I wanted from your mind, they would not have discovered me so quickly!*  
  
*How do you explain knowing what they would do to us then? You  said you got it from my mind!*  
  
*Yes, because you were  shouting it at me, human! Most of the time you shout with your mind - think loudly enough that I cannot avoid hearing it. Have you any idea how distracting it is, when you keep hearing the thoughts and feel the emotions of someone you are not fully blended with? How  unpleasant it is to listen to your constant tirade about your woes, and how I am a nasty, evil, slimy snake!* Jolinar spat, finally having had enough of it.  
  
Sam was taken aback for a moment, then asked, softer - at least she thought it was softer, she did not have that much experience speaking mentally. *Then can you show me how to hide my thoughts?*  
  
*Yes, I will teach you how to think privately.*  
  
*You won't be able to read my mind, then?*  
  
Jolinar was quiet for a few moments, then 'sighed'. *Yes, but I will not do it, and that way I would not automatically hear everything you think. Regrettably, the relationship between host and symbiote cannot be completely even in these matters. There is nothing you can do to stop me from taking what I want,  _if_ I wanted it - but you will just have to trust me when I say  _I would not do it_ !*  
  
Something told Sam that the Goa'uld...the  Tok'ra was speaking the truth - about this, at least. *Show me, then.* She demanded, warily.


	3. Refugees

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Tau'ri refugees are trying to get used to their new home - and some of the less moral members of the group decide to torture Sam and Jolinar for information.
> 
> Warning: torture (minor)

_Alpha Site, July 10 1998_  
  
It was almost a week later. O'Neill had been released from the infirmary a couple days ago, but still supporting himself on a crutch, the stab-wound in his leg hurting. He had been kept busy with administrative tasks, something he hated with a passion.  
  
There were enough housing for a about two thousand at the Alpha site, but most of those had to sleep on the floor in the large sheds that had been built when the first evacuation had taken place.  
  
The majority of the refugees slept in tents, and even then there were not room for all, and many slept outside. Right now it was summer on the planet, and warm enough, so it would work for a shorter period of time.  
  
A worse problem was that Apophis might find the address for the Alpha site, given time. They had destroyed the dialling computer after the Stargate had been opened for the last group, but there were backups they had not been able to get to, and it was only a matter of time before Apophis's scientists found those. They had to find a new place to build their colony, and fast. Until then, many soldiers were tasked with guarding the Stargate at all times, and they had buried explosives in front of it, since they were lacking an iris here.  
  
Teal'c and Daniel were on one of the teams that were scouting out possible 'Beta site' planets, and O'Neill wished he was going with them. He wanted to do something active, working directly to get Earth back again, and to put his mind to other things than his own dark thoughts.  
  
Many of his friends and what family he had left, were still on Earth.  Sara , his former wife, was still on Earth. He had tried to contact her before leaving, but had not been able to. Presumably, she was visiting her brother in Kansas, she usually did this time of the year. He and his family lived in the countryside, so hopefully they would be okay.  
  
O'Neill sighed, his dark thoughts continuing, but in another direction. His second in command had been taken over by a Goa'uld... or Tok'ra, or whatever it insisted on calling itself. He had already lost one good friend to one of those damn snakes - Kawalsky. It had not gone well when they had tried removing the Goa'uld. Then there was Daniel's wife, Sha're - it had not yet been a year since a Goa'uld possessed her - and her brother Ska'ara. Did these cursed creatures have to take everyone he cared about? He slammed his fist hard against the table, making some of the other people in the room jump.  
  


* * *

"Hi, Jack!" Daniel said, as he and Teal'c stepped into the room.  
  
"Daniel, Teal'c!" O'Neill nodded at them. "I hope to  God you're bringing some good news. I could use some!"  
  
"We have found suitable planet," Teal'c informed him.  
  
"The Ruling Council has accepted it. The first thing that needs to be taken care of is housing, so groups that can build that will be sent there as soon as it can be organised," Daniel said.  
  
"That's great." O'Neill sounded less than enthused, even though he knew it was important. He rolled his eyes. "Are they  _really_ calling themselves 'The Ruling Council'?"  
  
"Yeah, they are." Daniel confirmed. "It's made up of those - very few - Senators who managed to get away from Earth, some Generals, and a few others. I guess they thought it was a fitting name. Besides, it's not like there's going to be any elected government anytime soon..."  
  
O'Neill sighed. "I know. The plane with the President was shot down by Apophis, and most other members of the government didn't make it. It's just too bad  Kinsey and some of his cronies had to be among those that  _did_ ."  
  
Daniel nodded. "He's managed to get himself chosen as leader, or hadn't you heard?"  
  
O'Neill looked shocked. "No, I most  _certainly_ haven't heard about that! Have they gone  _completely_ mad? Why would they do that?"  
  
Daniel shrugged. "Most of the people in the Council know  nothing about the Stargate program, so I guess they felt Kinsey was a good choice. At least he  had heard about the program before any of this happened, and he's been talking about how much he was against the Stargate project, and that all of this wouldn't have happened if we hadn't gone 'out there' and provoked the Goa'uld. Anyway, I think Hammond was the only one who voted against Kinsey." He frowned. "No... I believe there was one other who abstained as well."  
  
O'Neill sighed. "Well, that explains why I haven't been able to get any information about Carter and the Goa'uld." He got up, wincing as he put weight on his bad leg. "What do you say we go see if Hammond can get us in to see her? I'm tired of this anyway." He pushed the paperwork aside, disgusted, and reached for his crutch.  
  


* * *

"Captain Carter is my second in command! I  _demand_ to know how she's doing!" O'Neill exclaimed angrily.  
  
"Sorry, sir. We've got strict orders not to let  _anyone_ in," the guard said, looking apologetic.  
  
"Come, Jack - it's no use." Daniel pulled on his arm.  
  
Just then, the door to the holding cell area opened and Lieutenant Colonel Samuels exited, followed by two guards and two other men, who were unknown to the members of SG-1.  
  
"Samuels! I should have  _guessed_ you were behind this!" O'Neill took a step towards him.  
  
"Behind what? I'll have you know that I am working  _directly_ for High Chancellor Robert Kinsey!"  
  
O'Neill rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean - what are you doing to my second in command, and why are you keeping us out?"  
  
"She is no longer your second in command! According to your friend Teal'c, there, nothing of the host survives when a Goa'uld takes over someone. I'm in charge of interrogating the enemy, trying to get much needed information about the Goa'uld!"  
  
"Jolinar is not an ordinary Goa'uld, she is a Tok'ra," Teal'c told him, calmly.  
  
"I hope you don't believe  _that_ !" Samuels snorted. "The host has not been in control at any time during our interrogation!"  
  
"Did Jolinar tell you anything useful then?" O'Neill asked.  
  
"She's not ready to cooperate yet, but she  will be." He started towards the door out. "I don't have the time to listen to anymore of this."  
  
"Can we at  least be allowed to see her?" Daniel implored, looking with some concern at a splatter of blood he had just noticed on the shirt of one of the men that had accompanied Samuels.  
  
Samuels shook his head, then shrugged. "Why not. Perhaps it'll convince you the creature in there is  not your friend anymore!" He turned to the two guards. "Keep an eye on them and make sure they don't try anything stupid. They have 10 minutes to talk to the prisoner."  
  


* * *

"Sam!" Daniel exclaimed, and took a few steps towards the holding cell, before he was stopped by one of the guards.  
  
Jolinar carefully touched her split lip, then absentmindedly studied the blood on her hand, before looking towards her visitors. She winced a little as she stretched, still sore from a kick to her ribs. Her left eye was swollen and partially closed, but she still managed to give Daniel and the others a glare that dared them to pity her. "Doctor Jackson." She nodded at him. "Teal'c - and Colonel O'Neill." She greeted them as well, but ignored the guards, who had been there earlier. "What is your business here?"  
  
"We didn't come to talk to you - we came to see how Carter is doing," O'Neill said.  
  
"We will both survive, thank you. As you can see, we have been interrogated. Their methods are somewhat crude, and they learned nothing."  
  
"They won't give up, so if you've got anything to tell, you better do so," Daniel offered.  
  
Jolinar snorted. "They do not have the means to make me talk. I will  _die_ before betraying the Tok'ra!"  
  
"And what about Carter? You claim to be different from the Goa'uld, but you don't seem to care much about what happens to  _her_ !" O'Neill challenged.  
  
"I offered to leave her for another host, if you would just let me go and search for one. Regardless, Samantha will not suffer - I am blocking the pain from her, and I can block her out completely, if it should become necessary. Only if I become unconscious will I be unable to do so. That is how it is always done among my kind - the symbiote protects the host for as long as it is possible."  
  
"Admirable." Teal'c nodded.  
  
"Of course - we've only got your word for that." O'Neill stepped closer, glaring at the guard. "Let Carter speak to us."  
  
"What would that accomplish? There is no way for you to know it is  _actually_ her, and not me." Jolinar looked suspiciously at him.  
  
"Does Sam want to talk to us? If she does, the you should let her, just to show you're  _not_ Goa'uld," Daniel insisted.  
  
"Even if you do not believe me?" Jolinar sighed. "However, she  _does_ wish to talk to you." She bowed her head, giving Sam control.  
  
Sam looked up at her friends, a look of confusion on her face, quickly replaced by determination. "Colonel... Daniel, Teal'c - it really  _is_ me!"  
  
"Sam?" Daniel asked, unsure.  
  
"It's me, Daniel." She gave him a shaky smile, before turning to O'Neill. "You've got to  _stop_ Samuels - and Kinsey's other goons! Jolinar won't tell them anything, and her having to heal me  _all the time_ , just means it'll be longer before she's strong enough to leave me... and  _I want her out_ !" Sam exclaimed, her voice rising in frustration. "You've got to convince them to let her go! She's telling the truth when she says she'll leave me!"  
  
Her team mates looked at her for a moment, all getting the distinct feeling this  was indeed Sam they were talking to, and not Jolinar.  
  
"Sorry, Carter - if that  _is_ you - even if we believe her, Kinsey's got himself set up as leader, and he'll  _never_ believe her!"  
  
"He's  _what_!?" Sam looked at him with disbelief.  
  
"Leader of 'the Ruling Council' - which is what they decided to call the governing body of those that got away from Earth." Daniel explained.  
  
Sam groaned, hiding her face in her hand. "Please tell me that's a bad joke!"  
  
"I'm afraid not." O'Neill frowned, suddenly feeling very sure it was indeed Sam they were talking to and not Jolinar. If the symbiote was letting her host talk - was the rest of what she said true as well?  Were the Tok'ra really different from the Goa'uld? Daniel and Teal'c seemed to believe it, and a part of him was starting to also.  
  
"Times up," one of the guards told them.  
  
"Listen, can't you just give us a moment here!" O'Neill said, angrily.  
  
"We're only following orders."  
  
O'Neill sighed, shaking his head. He knew that if they were being troublesome now, it would only make it harder for them to get to see Sam again or get any information about how she was doing. "Okay, we're leaving." He turned to Sam. "Don't worry - we'll talk to someone. Get you out."  
  


* * *

"Jack, they  _beat_ her!" Daniel exclaimed. "You heard her - it's Sam! How can you ignore that!"  
  
"I'm not ignoring it! I'm going to talk to General Hammond - I don't know what else I can do." He shook his head. "We don't  _know_ that was Sam - it  _could_ have been Jolinar..."  
  
"You don't believe that!" Daniel said.  
  
"I find myself quite convinced that was indeed Captain Carter," Teal'c added.  
  
O'Neill sighed. "Yeah, I agree. It  _did_ sound like her. God help us if there really  _are_ Goa'uld who are... different. Who fight the System Lords."  
  
"The Tok'ra might make a valuable ally," Teal'c observed.  
  
"It makes sense, don't you think? That the Goa'uld aren't  _all_ the same," Daniel said.  
  
"I guess it does, but on the other hand..." He shook his head again. "All I know is that if they really  _are_ \- for lack of a better term - 'good Goa'uld', then you're right. They could be a powerful ally, and we're doing our best to antagonize our only link to them... at a time when we need allies more than ever!"  
  


* * *

"You're sure of it?" Hammond asked.  
  
"No, no I'm not  _sure_ ... but Jolinar is  _different_ . She's not like the other Goa'uld we've met. Yes, she's arrogant and very sure of herself, and she does have some of that damn superiority thing going on, but still... there's  _something_ ..." He shook his head. "I don't know..."  
  
"She's not evil. She doesn't have that malicious streak the Goa'uld all have," Daniel said. "and I really think she's speaking the truth when she says she'll leave Sam, as soon as she can."  
  
"I have never known a Goa'uld to let their host speak. Jolinar did," Teal'c argued.  
  
"We've seen them masquerade before - like Hathor did," Hammond said.  
  
"Yes, but this  _was_ Sam," Daniel insisted.  
  
"I tend to agree," O'Neill said. "I don't think Jolinar would have behaved that way, even  _if_ she was impersonating Carter."  
  
Hammond sighed. "If the Tok'ra  _are_ real, and Jolinar is one of them... I don't know if it'll make things better or worse."  
  
"What do you mean?" Daniel stared at him. "The Tok'ra could be a great ally - and we  _need_ that!"  
  
"I very much doubt Kinsey and his people will believe it." He sighed. "There's something else."  
  
"What?" O'Neill asked, warily.  
  
"A General... an old friend of mine... I asked him to come when we needed people we could trust for the evacuation. He didn't mean to go through to the Alpha site, but wanted to stay on Earth and try to make up things with his son. He got injured and was taken here since he was unconscious. His name is Jacob Carter."  
  
"Carter?" O'Neill wondered.  
  
"He's Captain Carter's father. He's been in a coma for almost a week, but I've just been informed he's awake. I was about to go see him when you showed up."  
  
"Does he know about Sam?" Daniel asked.  
  
Hammond shook his head. "No, there wasn't time to tell him."  
  
"What are you going to say?" O'Neill asked.  
  
"I  _was_ going to tell him she had been taken over by a Goa'uld - when I had explained to him who these aliens are. He only knows aliens attacked Earth, not much else about them. Now?" Hammond slowly shook his head. "I just don't know. We're not sure if the creature that's in his daughter is an enemy or a potential ally."  
  
"Well, potential ally should be better, shouldn't it?" Daniel pointed out.  
  
"Is it? As an enemy at least we could work towards removing it - even if we haven't been very successful with that before. In the current situation, if it's someone who  _could_ become an ally, then Captain Carter would almost certainly be considered expendable, and they would let the alien keep her, if they thought it would convince Jolinar's people to help!"  
  
"Jolinar claims she'll leave Carter when she can find another host," O'Neill said. "I'm not convinced that's the truth, but if it  _is_ then that should help."  
  
Hammond nodded. "Perhaps."  
  
"General... you  _do_ know she's being tortured?" Daniel asked.  
  
"Tortured?"  
  
"When we went to talk to her, Kinsey's men had been interrogating her, and they had clearly hit her several times."  
  
Hammond nodded, sighing. "I suspected it, but I didn't think they would have gone that far yet." He shook his head. How was he going to tell this to Jacob? "I regret not fighting the election of Kinsey more than I did, but to be honest, I don't think It would have mattered. I will talk to some people that I  _think_ will listen to me, and hopefully we can talk some sense into Kinsey or at least some of those that support him. Many just do so because they're scared, though I don't hold out much hope i can convince them. Frankly, I fear those people who have only just learned aliens are real after losing their world to them, are ready to do almost anything."  
  
"Especially to an alien from the same species who did this to them, and whom they suspect has knowledge that could help get their world back. Yeah, I can see how  _that_ might be a problem, and that they won't care much if the alien claims to have a different ideology. Those things never matters much when you fight for your survival." O'Neill sighed. "By the way. There's one other thing... I saw Colonel Cromwell on the way over here.  Frank Cromwell. What's  _he_ doing here?"  
  
"His name came up when I was looking for people I could use for the evacuation. He's Air Force Special Ops."  
  
"Yeah, I know. I served with him in Iraq." He frowned.  
  
"Is there a problem with him?" Hammond looked closely at O'Neill, noticing something from the other man.  
  
"No... no, there's not. As long as he keeps away from me, then I'm good."


	4. Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jacob Carter thinks back to when Apophis attacked.

_Alpha Site, July 10 1998_  
  
"Jacob - how are you?" Hammond said, as he walked into the infirmary and spotted his friend.  
  
"George!" Jacob sat up, then groaned. He lifted his hand to tell Hammond he was all right, took a deep breath, then continued. "Finally a decent man! No one here's telling me  _anything_! I got as much out of them that I know I'm on the 'Alpha site' so I know I'm off world, but not why. I  _told_ you guys I wanted to _ stay_ on Earth!"  
  
"I know, Jacob, but you were unconscious and someone decided to bring you here. I didn't hear about it until after the 'gate had closed behind the last group, and you wouldn't have survived if we had left you."  
  
"I won't live long here either. George, I have cancer - lymphoma," Jacob told his friend. "I probably have less than a year, maybe only six months."  
  
"Why didn't you  _tell_ me! I wouldn't have put you out there in the line of fire!"  
  
"I had only just found out - and I knew you wouldn't have put me on any kind of active duty if you knew. I wanted that last fight - if I died, my death would at least  _mean_ something!" He sat up straighter. "Enough about me. How did the fight go? I can almost guess we lost, since we're not on Earth, but I'd like some more information."  
  
Hammond took a deep breath. "Very well. Yes, as you've guessed, Apophis won. He got into Stargate Command, and as far as we know he has conquered Earth. The last group out tried to blow up Stargate Command, but we're not sure the enemy didn't manage to stop the explosion. We got just over 10,000 people evacuated, so I'd say that's an accomplishment we can be proud of."  
  
Jacob nodded. "So we're staying here? Do you have housing for that many people? Food? Ammunition?"  
  
Hammond shook his head. "No, we don't - and we can't risk staying here. The dialling computer was destroyed, but if not all of the SGC blew up, then Apophis or one of his scientists will sooner or later figure out how to dig out the address for this place from some computer backup. It's just a matter of time. Our people have already found another world, though, and work is starting to move everything and everyone there and build housing. We'll have to get by with tents for a long while, and even those we don't have enough of, but they tell me it's summer there right now, so we'll manage, I guess. We have food enough for about two more months, if we stretch it - a combination of MREs and other pre-made emergency meals. After that, we'll have to hunt - or trade for it. Not that we've got much of anything to trade  _with_. We have weapons for all those that knows how to use them, and fairly much ammo - that's about the only positive point."  
  
"That bad, eh?"  
  
"We're well and truly screwed, yes."  
  
"One other thing... George... Sammie was stationed at Cheyenne Mountain. I didn't see her during the evacuation, and we haven't talked as much as we should recently - as you know, but... is she here at the Alpha site? Do you know what's happened to her? I couldn't get a straight answer out of those I asked."  
  
Hammond looked down and was quiet for some time, which clearly worried Jacob.  
  
"She _ is_ here, at the Alpha site, and she is...  _physically_ fine." He looked up. "I won't lie to you, Jacob, she is in a holding cell, and she is, ah, not herself."  
  
"She's  _what_?! In a _ holding_ cell? How? Why? What did she do? What do you mean, she's not herself?"  
  
"We don't know anything for sure, but... Jacob, how much were you told about the Goa'uld?"  
  
"The Goa'uld? Not very much, only that... that guy Apophis, that he's a Goa'uld." He frowned. "What did those bastards do to my little girl?" He demanded.  
  
"The Goa'uld use hosts to interact with their surroundings - they're somewhat snake-like parasites," Hammond explained. "One of them took her as a host. Now, we haven't..."  
  
" _Host_!" Jacob interrupted Hammond. "What do you mean, host?"  
  
"One of them is inside her. They can control humans - against their will."  
  
"My poor Sammie!" Jacob exclaimed.  
  
"We haven't given up - and the situation may not be as straight forward as it sounds anyway."  
  
"What do you mean, not straight-forward. You've gotta get that thing out of her!"  
  
"I got to be honest, Jacob - we haven't had much success with that in the past. Also, this Goa'uld... she claims she's part of some sort of resistance  against those Goa'uld who attacked Earth. If that's true..."  
  
"Oh, no you don't! I know where this is heading! Please don't tell me there's some of those higher-ups that's considering letting the alien parasite keep Sam in the hopes of getting some sort of favour from this creature!"  
  
"I'm sure they would, if they believed her. As it is... well, I don't know if you've been told, but very few members of the government survived, and I'm sure you can imagine the types of leaders that might get elected in a situation such as this - and how they'll react if they capture someone they think is part of the invasion of their planet. They're not listening to anything but their own fear right now."  
  
Jacob shook his head. "My god! They're interrogating her for information about the invasion!  _Torturing_ her! George, you've got to stop them!" He started getting out of bed. "I need to see her, _ immediately_!"   
  
Hammond tried stopping him. "Now, Jacob, you're not well enough to do that, and I'm pretty sure they won't let you near her anyway..." He caught Jacob when the other man was about to fall, and helped him sit down again. "Please, let me handle this. Her team talked to her - or maybe the parasite - earlier today, and they said she was all right, all things considered." He spotted a nurse coming towards them, having clearly seen what was happening. "Listen, lie down and rest. You need your strength. I promise I'll do what I can and come back to tell you what I find out."  
  


* * *

Jacob pushed the rest of his food away and leaned back in the bed, thinking back to the day he had first learned of the existence aliens and the possibility of travel to other planets...   
  
...He poured himself a mug of coffee and went to his favourite armchair and sat down, heavily. He looked morosely at nothing in particular as he sipped the strong black brew. He felt very tired. It was less than a week ago that he got the results from the hospital. He had cancer, lymphoma. They had given him six months, tops. There were treatments, of course, and they would attempt them, but it did not sound good.  
  
He took a deep breath and drank some more of the coffee. He imagined it gave him strength. Should he tell Sam and Mark? He doubted Mark would listen to him - not after how it had gone the last several times they had talked. A part of Jacob felt guilty, and he knew it was his own fault, at least as much as it was Mark's. More, probably. Not that he was ever going to admit that to anyone. Sam, then? He  _talked_ to her, at least. Well, sometimes, and only about superficial things, but at least they talked.  
  
What _ was_ it she was doing? Some sort of radio-telemetry, she had told him. That could not be what she had wanted to do with her life - even if _ that_ was probably a cover for some Air Force secret. He was suddenly tired of all these secrets. There had been far too many of them in his life. Far too much time spent away from those he loved. He decided it was time to do something for them, or for Sam at least. Mark would probably not be interested. Perhaps he should put in a good word for her, try and get her that spot as an astronaut with NASA? He knew it had always been one of her dreams.  
  
Suddenly, he heard what sounded like a fighter plane flying low and fast over his apartment. Here? In Washington? He shook his head and took another drink. He had barely swallowed before the sound returned. It was definitely a fighter plane, and it had company. Was it some sort of exercise?  _Here_? Or an airshow he had not heard about? He took another sip of the coffee, then put the mug down on the floor and got up, wincing as the arthritis in his knees made itself known. He hated growing old.  
  
He walked over to the window and looked out, just in time to see another group of planes fly past. They all went in the same direction, and several more groups followed while he watched. Then he saw what was clearly an explosion in the sky, in the direction where the planes had been headed. It was followed shortly by another, and then another. Opening the window he could hear them.  
  
Then he heard the warning siren sending out the wavering signal, notifying the population of an attack. He wondered briefly why it had not sounded earlier, since the attack was evidently already in progress. How could an enemy have reached  _Washington_ without being detected?  
  
Very worried, he hurried to turn on the television.  
  
" _...we repeat, do not go outside. We don't know much about what is going on, but we have been assured everything will be taken care of. The President will make an announcement at 12PM._"  
  
Jacob just stared at the screen. What was  _happening_? He looked at his watch... 10 minutes to noon. Then they would hopefully get some information. He took a deep breath and went to get another cup of coffee and some cookies. He suspected he would stay in front of the television for some time.  
  
He had barely got into the kitchen when his telephone rang. All things considered, he ran for it.  
  
Jacob picked up the telephone. "Carter."  
  
" _Jacob - George, here._ "  
  
"Hi, George. You calling about this attack that's going on?"  
  
" _You have noticed, of course. There's a bit more to it than you think._ "  
  
"We're not being attacked?"  
  
" _Yes, yes, we are. Unfortunately. Listen, are you watching tv?_ "  
  
"I am. They said the President is going to make an announcement at noon...in about 5 minutes."  
  
" _Watch it. He's not going to tell everything, but he'll tell you who the attackers are - and that we don't stand a chance of winning._ "  
  
"Who's attacking? Not the Russians, it is?"  
  
" _No, not the Russians. Actually, we're fighting together with the Russians - and every other country on this planet. And we're going to lose. Badly._"  
  
"What! But who are we fighting, then?"  
  
Hammond took a deep breath. " _Aliens - as in extra terrestrials. " _He interrupted the exclamation Jacob was about to make. _" Not now. Just trust me, Jacob, and watch that announcement, then I'll call you back. I need all the trusted men I  can get, if we're going to pull off the evacuation._"  
  
..."Would you like more to eat, General Carter?" the nurse asked.  
  
Jacob looked up from his reverie. "What? No, no, thank you."  
  
"You really should eat some more. You need your strength." She admonished him as she took away the rest of the food.  
  
"Hmm," Jacob said, then returned to his thoughts.  
  
He had watched that announcement. The President had told them that  _Earth_ was being attacked. By aliens who called themselves Goa'uld. This particular one had named himself after the Egyptian deity Apophis. The President had also said that all of Earth's forces were fighting the aliens, and that people should remain calm and not go outside before they heard anything further.  
  
It has all sounded ludicrous, but when Hammond had called him again afterwards, he had confirmed it all. Apophis was indeed fighting Earth's forces - and Earth was losing badly. They needed to use what time there was to rescue as many people as possible _ off world_, before Apophis came to take Cheyenne Mountain, which held something called a 'Stargate' - a device that could be used to travel to other planets.  
  
Jacob felt as if his head was spinning, but when Hammond had said he needed him to help, he has said yes. He had been given 2 hours to pack, and the Air Force had sent someone to pick him up. By then the city was in chaos, with people running around and screaming. There were looters and fire everywhere, and here and there some sort of weapons fire had hit the buildings, blowing large, scorched holes in them. Jacob had only seen a little of it on the short car ride to the nearest place the Air Force had been able to set down a helicopter. They flew out of the city, just as an air battle between Earth fighters and some kind of alien vessels, began right over the city.  
  
During a brief moment of quiet, while he waited to be taken on board a plane that would take him to Colorado Springs, he had attempted to call Mark on his cell phone. The service had already become unreliable, but after trying a few times he got through. Mark and his family were on vacation, in a friend's cabin out in the woods. They had not watched television and Mark flat out told Jacob that he thought he had gone crazy - and besides, he was not to disturb him on his holiday. Then he had hung up. Jacob had not succeeded in getting through to him again.  
  
He took a deep breath and pushed the thoughts away. At least Mark and the children would have been safer out in that cabin. They would probably have avoided most of the attack, even if the world and the life they would return to would be quite different.  
  
Sam he had expected to meet, as he knew she was stationed with NORAD, but Hammond had kept him busy, and had been strangely evasive about Sam's whereabouts.  
  
Now he knew why.  
  


* * *

"What did Kinsey and his goons say?" O'Neill asked.  
  
"As you expected, they wouldn't listen. However, they agreed to hold off on further interrogation of Jolinar until the base has been moved to another planet. Even  they agreed that should take priority, so you're all to focus completely on that," Hammond said.  
  
"All right, I guess that's something," Daniel agreed.  
  
"There is something else." Hammond was quiet for a moment, not sure if he ought to tell them this, but decided he should. "I talked to Captain Carter's father yesterday. He's still weak from his wounds, but he also told me he has cancer."  
  
"This just keep getting worse! How bad is he?" O'Neill asked.  
  
"Just before he left Earth, the doctors had told him he probably had less than a year, maybe only six months. I talked to Doctor Fraiser, and she has checked him out also. She believes the six months is closer to being the correct estimate - and that it may even be somewhat optimistic, especially here. As you're no doubt aware, we could only bring a limited amount of medical supplies, and so the doctors are only able to treat the most basic things."  
  
"Carter's dad shouldn't die while his daughter is in a holding cell - or taken over by an alien!" O'Neill said with determination.  
  
"I agree, but I fear nothing is going to change until Jolinar tells them something they want to know."  
  
"Jolinar will never talk, regardless of the torture they expose her to. She was quite correct when she said the Tau'ri does not have the means to make her talk," Teal'c said.  
  
"Maybe, but that's were you come in. If you really think she's a member of these Tok'ra, then you've  _got_ to convince her to talk! It's the only way she'll _ ever_ be let out of that cell." Hammond sighed.  
  
"I doubt we can convince her, and frankly, can you blame her? They won't let her out even _ if_ she talks, will they?" O'Neill said, shaking his head at himself. He would never had imagined he would start seeing things from a Goa'uld's side - even if it  _was_ , perhaps, a good Goa'uld.  
  
"Probably not." Hammond admitted. "I don't know how to fix this. There's one thing, though - I was called into a meeting with the Council. We're not to tell Captain Carter about her father. Not that he's here, and not that he's sick. They're afraid the Goa'uld - _ Tok'ra_ \- will somehow use it to its advantage."  



	5. Occupied

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam's brother Mark and his family are still on Earth, and they soon learn how much their world has changed. 
> 
> Warning: some violence

_July 11 1998, the World of the Tau'ri_  
  
Mark shut the trunk in the car, after they had finished loading all their things into it. They were going back to San Diego now - back to their house. He really wished they did not have to, but the orders had come for everyone to report to their place of residence, or their new masters would punish them severely.  
  
He sighed and thought back to that day, about one week ago, when his father had phoned him and tried to tell him Earth was under attack. He had dropped his new sunglasses in the small pond outside the cabin, and was trying to get them back. He was reaching for them and had barely managed to lean down far enough that he could  _just_ grasp them, when the telephone had rung. He had lost the grip on the sunglasses, and was not in a good mood when he answered. He had become even less pleased when it had turned out to be his father, who sounded unbalanced and was trying to tell him some tall story about the planet being under attack.  
  
He had hung up on him. How dared he call and bother him when he was on vacation? Okay, to be fair, he could not know that - it had been a long time since they talked - but still.  
  
There was no television at the cabin, and only an old transistor radio, which he did not feel like going to look for. He would probably find that it needed the batteries changed anyway. He had stuffed the cell phone in his pocket and gone back to trying to get his sunglasses, and had soon forgotten everything about the telephone call.  
  
That had lasted until late evening, when they were all sitting outside on the porch, enjoying the nice warm evening. Suddenly, several planes had flown past at a low altitude, and the children had become unnerved from the noise and had started crying. His wife had wondered what was going on, and that was when he remembered the phone call.  
  
He had gotten up and hurried into the house, suddenly getting a very bad feeling about this. The radio had been easier to find than expected, and the batteries were still good, so he turned it on.  
  
It had not taken long before Mark had learned that not only were all stations broadcasting the same message, but what his father had tried to tell him was true. Aliens  _had_ attacked Earth - or more correctly, were  _still_ attacking Earth.  
  
They had spent a restless night, but had managed to not show their fear to the children. There was no reason to scare them.  
  
Very little information came out the first couple of days, except more messages about the attack being ongoing. Now and then planes would fly over their heads at a low altitude. On the second day, they had for the first time seen the alien vessels they later learned were called 'deathgliders'. They had flown past in a small formation, following the Earth fighter planes closely, and they had quickly caught up. A battle had followed and soon several planes had streaked burning across the sky, only to crash to the ground in distant explosions.  
  
Then, the evening of the fourth day came the news that all of Earth had surrendered to Apophis -  _all_ of Earth! Apophis would be our new leader - or 'Lord', as they called him. They also claimed he was a god.  
  
He had talked to a neighbor who had been watching the news on television, and who had been in contact with his sister in New York the day before, using radio. The telephone network had been down for more than a day already. Most large cities in the US - and probably in the whole world - had been bombed heavily, and groups of alien warriors had shown up here and there, wearing strange armor with snake-shaped heads.  
  
After that, they had watched the daily news bulletins at their neighbors place. There was little news, except orders for people to stay where they were, and one instance where they showed their new 'Lord'. Mark thought he looked like a medieval warlord, all dressed up and arrogant. He had also looked very human, but his voice had not been, and his eyes had suddenly flashed yellow-white. The aliens called themselves 'Goa'uld', and their warrior servants were called 'Jaffa'. Mark wondered what 'Goa'uld' and 'Jaffa' were. Except for the eye-glowing and the voice, the Goa'uld seemed human, and the Jaffa did as well.  
  
Mark was not sure if it was safe to return to their home instead of staying here, but he also did not dare disobey the orders of those that had leveled all larger cities in such a short span of time. He sighed and turned to go inside and tell his wife and children it was time to go. Hopefully, all would be well. Somehow.  
  


* * *

Sam looked up at the clock on the wall. Almost 4 PM, and no one had come to interrogate them yet. Perhaps they would be left alone for today? Jolinar had let her be in control, and promised only to retake it when someone came to interrogate her or otherwise talk to her. She had been very apologetic and understanding of Sam not being ready to share her body, yet.  
  
She snorted. As if she would  _ever_ be ready to share her body. She had not exactly chosen this. Jolinar had  _taken_ her body, like the damn Goa'uld that she was! She was quiet for a moment, trying to determine if Jolinar had listened to her thoughts, but there was not even a hint that the symbiote had heard. 'Snake', Sam thought. She was sure Jolinar would have reacted if she had been listening, so maybe she was keeping her word and not listening, now when she had shown Sam how to hide her thoughts.  
  
Or more likely she was biding her time, fuming silently, and waiting for Sam to reveal something.  
  
Which the symbiote could just take from her anyway, so what was the use in that? Sam admitted it did not make sense. So, perhaps she  _could_ trust this Jolinar. To a degree, at least.  
  


* * *

Mark turned onto the road towards Sacramento. Still 9 hours to go before they reached San Diego - and that was without breaks, which they would have to take several of. The children were at least being quiet in the backseat. He looked at the gauge and realized they needed more gas. Spotting a tank, he turned off the road, and in to it.  
  
"Do you really think it's a good idea to stop here?" His wife, Marian, asked, worriedly looking out the window.  
  
They had already driven through several smaller cities, and the two most recent had clear marks of fighting - most likely between groups of panicked, looting humans.  
  
"I'm afraid I'll have to get some gas soon, and I'm thinking it's better here than closer to the large cities. If there's even any gas left there," Mark said, keeping his voice down so as not to alarm Lisa and William in the backseat.  
  
Marian nodded, sighing. "Okay, but be quick."  
  


* * *

It was about an hour later, as they were approaching Sacramento, that they saw the first real signs of fighting, that were not just local groups of humans that had raided the area. Even the suburbs carried clear marks of having been bombed, and the further they drove, the more devastation they saw. In many places rubble were all that was left of whole neighborhoods, and fires still burned here and there.  
  
They had seen very few people, and those they spotted usually were quick to hide.  
  
They made the decision to turn off I-80 and go around most of Sacramento, then onto I-5 and southwards. The landscape they drove through now were heavily scarred by bombardment. The attack seemed to have focused on large cities and other centres of high population. The road itself was mostly intact, but here and there they had to drive around holes and smoking car wrecks. Mark had stopped counting the number of corpses he had seen, but at least they were seeing more live people as well.  
  
At first they had been afraid it was more gangs of looters, but most of those seemed to have taken what they wanted - or been killed attempting to do so. Mark supposed it was a good thing they had not tried to go back until now.  
  
They were not the only ones driving - or walking - on the road. Others seemed to be going southwards as well, even if it was only a small trickle compared to the traffic that was usually on these roads.  
  
"I'm hungry, dad!" Lisa complained.  
  
"Me, too!" William added.  
  
"I know, sweethearts. We'll find somewhere to eat lunch soon, okay?" Mark promised.  
  
"What about the next stop?" Marian said. "The sign said there should be a stop in 5 miles, and since we've got our own lunch pack, one place is as good as any, and I seem to remember this actually being quite a scenic place."  
  
"As long as there are no suspicious looking characters there, I agree." Mark sighed. "We'll try it." He turned off the road towards the hopefully scenic - and peaceful - stop.  
  
The road went through a small forest, and exited into an open place surrounded by trees, on top of a hill. It really was very beautiful. However, they had only just left the woods when they stopped. The place was almost full of people, who were obviously building something. Getting a bad feeling, Mark was about to turn the car around, when a man in some sort of armour shouted at him. The man and a group of similarly dressed men ran towards Mark and his family, pointing at them with what seemed like long sticks with something at the ends.  
  
Very fearful, Mark rolled down the window of his car. "Uh, I'm sorry if we're intruding. We didn't know anyone would be here, and..."  
  
"Get out of the vessel  _immediately_ , insolent human!" The man yelled at him.  
  
Mark noticed he had a tattoo on his forehead, a circle with a 'U' or perhaps a snake in it, and a half-circle under it. Who addressed anyone just as 'human'? He did not doubt this was one of the aliens, one of the 'Jaffa' that served Apophis. Afraid, he quickly opened the door and went outside. "Sorry."  
  
"Kneel, ha'shak!" The alien hit him over the back with the staff he was carrying, and Mark stumbled to the ground.  
  
" _No_!" Marian screamed. "Don't hurt him!"  
  
Lisa and William began to cry immediately, and the alien looked furious.  
  
"You pitiful humans! You know  _nothing_ about correct behaviour, and it is a wonder any of you are still alive. You will learn, though." He controlled himself with difficulty, and turned to his second in command and the two other men with him. "Jaffa, kree! Make sure this slave understands the error of trespassing on the grounds of our great Lord Apophis's future temple, and make sure they leave, then return to watch the construction workers. These humans are deplorable slaves - it is a good thing there are so many of them!" He laughed noisily. "You, human! Be grateful I am feeling merciful and have more important things to do!" He turned around and left.  
  


* * *

Mark dragged himself back into the car, after two of the Jaffa had spent a few minutes kicking him, while the third had made sure his wife stayed in the car and did not attempt to interfere. Mark slammed the door after him, then started the car, turned it around. In the back, Lisa and William were crying, and beside him Marian was sitting, sobbing with fury and fear. "Oh, my poor Mark!" She put a hand on his leg. "How did they  _dare_ behave like that!"  
  
"I'm very much afraid they can do what they want." Mark wiped the blood of his chin with his sleeve. "I think they were Jaffa." He stepped on the speeder and they drove away quickly. He felt himself shaking with the aftereffect of the fear and anger, shaking to the point where he could barely control the steering wheel.  
  
"Maybe you should let me take over," Marian suggested.  
  
After a moment, Mark nodded. "I think that's a good idea - as soon as we can put some distance between us and them." He shook his head. "Oh, Marian... how could this happen to us. What did we do for these aliens to decide to take our planet and... and... enslave us. That's what they're doing. Didn't you see back there? Those people building that... temple to Apophis!" He spat the name. "They were  _slaves_."


	6. Doubts and Changes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The refugees from Earth are not yet safe. Apophis attacks!
> 
> Warning: violence (minor)

_July 17 1998, Beta site_  
  
Most of a week passed, with everyone who was able to do so, working at moving the base to the new site - named the 'Beta site'. From Earth, they had brought with them a machine for making planks, and it was put to good use by the teams that were building housing. Still, most of the refugees would be living in tents for the first many months, as it would take a lot of time to build even primitive housing for that many people.  
  
Some of the buildings on the Alpha site were modular, and could be taken apart and brought through the gate, so the infirmary, administration - and the building with the holding cells - were quickly rebuilt at the Beta site. A group of guards escorted Sam and Jolinar through the Stargate and to the new Beta site, as soon as a cell was ready for them.  
  
Jolinar had left Sam in control, but neither of them had much to say to the guards. They were well aware that they would not even believe Sam, if she said she was herself and not Jolinar.  
  
Sam was not still not talking or listening much to Jolinar, but she was beginning to. There was no one else to talk to, and besides, it was difficult to keep up the animosity - especially since Jolinar had done none of the things Sam would have expected of a Goa'uld.  
  
Sam had called Jolinar all the nasty things she could think of, and otherwise only yelled at her and fought her - all to no avail. At no point had Sam been able to wrestle control from Jolinar unless she had given it to her freely, but the symbiote had also not retaliated or in any way punished her. It was puzzling, and Sam had to admit it was starting to look as if Jolinar was  _actually_ telling the truth. Partially, at least. Sam did not doubt Jolinar meant it when she said she would leave her - had not doubted that for a long time.  
  
Jolinar had shown her how to keep her thoughts private, and it  _seemed_ as if Jolinar was not listening in on her thoughts. Not that Sam could truly know, but she suspected Jolinar was keeping her word. Could there really be such a thing as a good Goa'uld? A  _Tok'ra_ , or whatever they called themselves? And... could they perhaps be good allies, if they were real?  
  
Sam stepped through the Stargate and exited on a new world. She looked around. It seemed much as most worlds they had gone to. There was an open stretch around the Stargate, but she could see a forest nearby. She was lead along a path through the outer part of the forest. The climate here seemed temperate, and judging from the trees and the vegetation, it was summer. It took less than five minutes to reach the area the base was being built at. Except for bushes, grass, and some flowers, the area was open. She could see mountains in the distance, and a small river flowed from them, past the camp, and into the forest.  
  
She saw several half-finished buildings, and some people at work making planks from the timber others brought from the forest. They were using a small machine that could cut the tree trunks into rough planks - Sam could remember that had been on the list of things Siler had suggested should be included among the necessary items for an evacuation. Apparently he had succeeded in convincing Hammond of it in time to get one here.  
  
Sam did not have time to study the base any further, as she was lead quickly towards a building identical to the one she had been imprisoned in at the Alpha site. She tried to notice things that might help her escape, if she managed to flee from the cell, but there was little of value. Most of the rooms were completely barren, as the building had only just been finished.  
  
As the door to her cell closed, she suddenly realized what she had just thought - she had been considering how she could escape from here.  _With_ Jolinar, obviously. Would she do that, if she could? Or was it Jolinar influencing her? Did she trust the symbiote enough to try to escape with her? And what if she succeeded - and Jolinar actually kept her word and found a new host - would Sam be able to go home? Or as much of a home as this place was.  
  
Would they ever trust her again? Sam sighed, realizing all of this did not matter, because escaping was likely her only chance to survive, as long as the NID was in charge. It was probably also quite impossible.  
  
She was well aware that she had only gained a respite because of the evacuation to the Beta site. Her tormentors would be back, to demand Jolinar speak and tell them what she knew. Back to hurt them when she told them nothing. Not caring about Sam, or whether or not Jolinar could be blamed for what Apophis had done. Not caring that Jolinar may not be a traditional Goa'uld, that she may be a  _Tok'ra_ \- and a potential ally.  
  
Sam sighed. There would be no escape, and her only protection against the NID was a good Goa'uld, who had until now protected her against the harsh interrogation -  _torture_ \- and promised she would continue to do so for as long as she could.  
  


* * *

_July 18 1998, the World of the Tau'ri_  
  
Mark and his family had made it back to San Diego, without any further run-ins with the Jaffa.  
  
People were still not allowed to go out for more than a few hours each day, unless specifically ordered to a certain place.  
  
"Well, I guess this means we won't have to decide between you continuing to work at the Census Office in L.A., or finding something closer." Marian sighed.  
  
"Yeah, I'm afraid that's likely," Mark agreed, throwing a look in the direction of their children, who were playing some sort of game - laughing and seeming not to have a care in the world.  
  
They had moved to San Diego just under 8 months ago, since they had found a great house to a reasonable price. Of course, since Mark worked at the US Census Office in Los Angeles, that meant about two hours of commute each way, five days a week, and that was just not something he was enjoying. He liked the job, though, so he had been hesitant to find another, closer to their new home. Now it was unlikely he would have to make the decision.  
  
He doubted there would be any use for his position, or for the majority of positions people worked in, for that matter. He was very worried how their future would look, and especially what future their children would have. He doubted there would be schools, for instance.  
  
Both Mark and Marian jumped when it knocked on the door. They looked at each other for a moment, then Mark got up and walked to the door. He had not reached it yet when someone shouted at them from the outside.  
  
"Open the door, Tau'ri ha'shak!"  
  
A Jaffa, Mark realized. He had no choice but to open the door, which he did with a sense of dread.  
  
"Yes... my Lord," Mark added, bowing, as they had been told repeatedly on television that they had to do when addressing the aliens.  
  
Four Jaffa stood outside, and the leader studied Mark for a moment. "You have been assigned a position, human. Your merciful god has chosen that you shall be human overseer of the Tau'ri census office."  
  
"Ah... eh, thank you," Mark said, relieved neither he nor his family was to be punished, as several of their neighbors had been... for various infractions none of them had even realized were illegal. "Uh, overseer? Will I be doing the same as I do now? Where will I live? Will I still commute to L.A. every day?"  
  
"Lord Eskall has chosen you for the position, that is all you need to know. He is the Goa'uld in charge of the Tau'ri census office. He will give you your orders. You and your family will be relocated to Amaunet's jewel, the city where the chaapa'ai is located."  
  
"Uh..." Mark frowned. "Okay, I guess. When are we moving? I need to start packing my car and hire a van and stuff."  
  
The Jaffa stared at him, uncomprehending, for several moments. "Tomorrow. Be ready." He turned to leave.  
  
"Wait! I can't get everything packed and hire a van this quickly! Will I be driving myself or will you hire someone, or what?"  
  
"The use of Tau'ri ground transportation has been made prohibited for everyone without a special dispensation, which your position does not merit. You will only bring what you can carry." The Jaffa left.  
  
Mark just stood there for several moments, staring after the Jaffa.  
  


* * *

_July 20 1998, Beta site_  
  
*Well, it was certainly nice finally to be allowed to take a bath!* Sam commented, as she pulled on the clean clothing after washing in the river and drying off. *I'd just wish those idiots didn't have to stand there and leer at me!* She indicated the small group of guards that was obviously ogling her.  
  
*Agreed. At least they are too afraid of me to do anything more than look at us.*  
  
Sam scoffed. *There's that. Who would have known - there's actually something I can be grateful to you for!*  
  
*It pleases me to no end,* Jolinar answered sarcastically.  
  
Sam pulled on the rest of her clothing, and one of the guards walked over to her, waving an MP5 at her.  
  
"Okay, if you're finally finished, then get a move on, snake! The rest of us would like to get back and have dinner."  
  
Sam sent him an icy look, but did not deign to give him an answer.  
  


* * *

_July 29 1998, Alpha site_  
  
"The 'gate's activating!" Harriman announced. "Unscheduled gate activation!"  
  
"Okay, ready, men!" O'Neill shouted at the guards standing by.  
  
The wormhole kawosh'ed and the event horizon had barely stabilized when the first people came through.  
  
"Jaffa!" Teal'c called out.  
  
"Fall back!" O'Neill yelled. "Ready claymores!" They ran back a few more feet. "Blow them!"  
  
The claymores that had been buried in front of the Stargate exploded, sending the Jaffa flying. More stepped through, and another round of explosions were set off.  
  
When all the explosions quieted down, even more Jaffa came through the Stargate, and O'Neill gave the order to fire. The Jaffa shot back, the staff blasts zipping towards the defenders, hitting several.  
  


* * *

Finally, the gate shut down, and one of the soldiers immediately ran forward to dial out. The wormhole formed, and they all let out a sigh of relief when it was clear they had gotten through to the Beta site, and it was not Apophis's men that had dialled in again.  
  
"Medics!" O'Neill yelled, as he looked out over the area around the Stargate. It looked like a battle field, with craters from the explosions - and dead and wounded humans and Jaffa everywhere. "Check on the Jaffa, and make sure all the live ones are locked up. Be careful! Don't get too close without someone else to keep an eye on you - we don't want anyone taken over by their symbiotes!" He added, thinking back to Kawalsky.  
  
Hammond approached him, at the same time as the medical personnel ran past them toward the wounded.  
  
"So Apophis has the address to this place. It's a good thing we're almost finished moving everything to the Beta site."  
  
"Oh, yeah, very good thing." O'Neill frowned. "What do we do about the prisoners, sir?"  
  
"How many are there?"  
  
Teal'c walked up to them. "Four are alive, one is unlikely to make it."  
  
Hammond nodded. "I suppose we should see if they know anything useful."  
  
"They will not talk - nor are they likely to know anything," Teal'c said.  
  
"Apophis knew he was probably sending them to their death." O'Neill realized. "He wouldn't have sent anyone important - or anyone that could tell on him."  
  
"Correct. These were nourishment for the artillery."  
  
O'Neill looked at him for a moment. "Cannon fodder, Teal'c!" He sighed. "I agree. General, if they don't have any useful information for us, then you know what the NID will do. They have been trying to get their hands on a symbiote for a  _long_ time."  
  
"Medical experiments." Hammond took a deep breath. "And given the situation they won't care what happens to the Jaffa."  
  
"Sir, we can't let Kinsey's goons do that! These poor creatures don't deserve that!" O'Neill insisted.  
  
"I agree. I won't let that happen unless I get a direct order. Since I haven't, and since my superiors are all safely on the Beta site, I'll have to make the call, and I'm saying those Jaffa are a security risk. They probably saw the address to the Beta site when we dialled it, and we can't risk them getting away - or their symbiotes taking over someone."  
  
"Sir?" O'Neill looked unhappy.  
  
"Shoot them, Colonel. I'll go and make my report."  
  


* * *

Kinsey and Colonel Samuels had become furious that the Jaffa had been killed, but most of the Council members were so relieved that the attack had been driven off that they voted against demoting Hammond, and he kept his position. He was, however, given explicit orders to capture any Jaffa that was not killed during future attacks.  
  
Unhappy, Hammond went back to the Alpha site. He met O'Neill just as he came back.  
  
"So, what did they say?" O'Neill asked.  
  
"They weren't too happy, but they appreciated us driving back the enemy." Hammond tensed as he heard the Stargate activate, and they both turned to look at it, waiting to see if any enemies came through. None did, and soon the evacuation continued. "I don't have to remind you that we'll have to keep that gate active at all times."  
  
"No, sir, you don't. We've started mining the area in front of it again, as you can see, but I'd rather not risk a repeat of that attack. Teal'c thinks they might send grenades or something through first next time, so we can't let that happen."  
  
"I agree. How many of our people did we lose?"  
  
"Seven. It could have been a lot worse." O'Neill sighed.  
  
"All right. As soon as you've finished burying the mines, start evacuating the rest to the Beta site. How much time do you think you need?"  
  
"We should be finished early tomorrow, if we work through the night - which I guess we'd better. Apophis can attack at any time."


	7. Stress and Developments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam and Jolinar talk some, and find a bit of information they can give their interrogators, without danger to the Tok'ra. Question is if it will help them? 
> 
> Warning: violence (minor)

_July 30 1998, Beta site_  
  
Jolinar sat down on the bunk, drawing a deep breath as the door closed after the interrogators. At least the interrogation had only consisted of yelling, threats, and harsh words this time, and she did not have to heal anything.  
  
*Why don't you just tell them something? They'll never let you go otherwise, and you must now  _something_ my people can use, and which also won't jeopardize the fate of the Galaxy or whatever it is you think will happen!* Sam told her symbiote, frustrated.  
  
*Oh, so now I am worthy of being spoken to?* Jolinar sounded sarcastic.  
  
*How long can you keep that up? Don't you know  _anything_ useful? I mean, I'm sure you _ must_ know something!*  
  
Jolinar sighed. *I know little that is useful about Apophis, which your people do not already know. I will tell them nothing about the Tok'ra, of course. As for the state of the rest of the Galaxy? Yes, I do know something which might interest your people, but it would hardly help you, and I fear you would rush out and do something stupid, risking yourselves as well as the stability and possible future of the Galaxy. I will tell them  _nothing_.*  
  
*You arrogant bitch! Don't you trust us to decide that for ourselves? You treat us like children!*  
  
*Which you are, compared to my kind. You have neither the knowledge, nor the experience,  _nor_ the level of technology to involve yourself with the things you are messing with. You are barely able to survive out here - focus on that, first!*  
  
Sam spent several minutes being too angry to even formulate a reply, when she suddenly remembered something. *You told Daniel you could give him back his wife - did you mean it?*  
  
*The Tok'ra have the technology to remove a symbiote, yes, and we do have some information about her which you may not. It is, however, not information which would help you.*  
  
*What's this information?* Sam groaned. *Really, it's not like I can tell anyone if you don't want me to!*  
  
*As I have told you several times, Tok'ra do  _not_ censor their hosts! What I know about Amaunet is by no means certain. It is hearsay.*  
  
*Yeah, yeah, I get it, you're not guaranteeing it's the truth. What do you know?*  
  
*I have not been able to confirm with the Tok'ra, since I have been on the run for many months, but when I last managed to get information from my informers - which admittedly is now almost three months ago - Amaunet had reportedly gone missing.*  
  
*Missing?*  
  
*Yes, and rumours has it she is pregnant with Apophis's child.*  
  
*Pregnant? I didn't think the Goa'uld did that - but then, it's not like I really know much of anything about them. Anyway, why would she be missing because of that?*  
  
*If two Goa'uld have a human child, that child will be harcesis. It is forbidden.*  
  
*Har-cesis. What's that? And why is it forbidden?*  
  
*According to myth, the child will carry all the knowledge of the Goa'uld, their entire genetic memory - which is, of course, absurd. It can never get more than what its symbiote parents have. However, many Goa'uld believe in the myth, and I suspect Apophis is one of those that does. In any case, the Goa'uld does not allow a human child which has the knowledge of a symbiote - of _two_ Goa'uld lines, even. To have a human know the same or more than they do, is a threat to them - and they also consider it blasphemous.*  
  
*Because a mere human would know what only 'gods' should know.* Sam realized.  
  
*Exactly. It is believed that Apophis wishes to use this child as his future host.*  
  
*Okay - so Amaunet hides while she's pregnant, so no one will notice?*  
  
*Yes, and also because the symbiote has to be dormant during the last three months of the gestation. This means Apophis will have hid her somewhere safe - somewhere the host will not try to run from.*  
  
*Sha're has control?*  
  
*For the three months just before she gives birth, yes. We suspect she may be hiding on her homeworld, but we do not know it.*  
  
*I do! Sha're is from Abydos.*  
  
*Then that is likely where she will have gone.*  
  
*We should tell Daniel! He can rescue his wife!*  
  
*He can only free her from Amaunet if she is allowed to accompany me to the Tok'ra. That is unlikely to happen. If she returns here, then she will most likely be imprisoned like we are, and tortured for information. They will be even less gentle towards her. Is that what you wish for your friend's wife?*  
  
*She might get some time with her husband first! And who knows, maybe this will convince them they can trust you, and lead to them letting you go!* Sam did not really believe this herself, but they had to try something, right?  
  
Jolinar snorted. *Neither of us believe that!* She sighed. *But I suppose it is worth trying. I do not know how far along she is in her gestation, so we should move quickly. I will tell the interrogators the next time they come.*  
  
*Wait - I suddenly remember something...the Abydonians have buried their Stargate - they won't open it again until one Abydonian year has passed since we were there. Daniel told them to.*  
  
Jolinar thought for a moment. *I do not believe that will be a problem. Apophis most likely arrived by ship if he took Amaunet there, but he will not have allowed the chaapa'ai to remain buried. While it _ is_ a safety against his enemies, it is also a danger if he cannot reach Amaunet quickly - or she him, should something happen. He will have restored the chaapa'ai, so your people can surely go there whenever they wish. I shall tell them this as well.*  
  


* * *

_July 31 1998, Beta site_  
  
*Why are you unhappy  _now_? I told them about Amaunet as you wanted me to!* Jolinar sounded frustrated.  
  
*Yeah, a lot of good  that did!* Sam grumbled.  
  
*That is _ not_ my fault! I  _did _ warn you we would not achieve anything!* She gave control to Sam, who seemed to need the ability to have a physical outlet for her anger.  
  
Sam started pacing the room. *They actually got  _more_ hostile, blaming us - I mean  you \- for holding back information. Not only that - now they seem to think we've got a _ lot_ of information they can drag out of us!  You .* She sighed. *Sorry, I  do know it's not your fault. I had just  _really_ hoped they'd be a little less hostile, and maybe start believing you a little more.*  
  
Jolinar snorted. * _That_ was naive!*  
  
Sam was about to hiss something hostile at Jolinar, as she usually did, but then she stopped herself. Jolinar was not the enemy here, she realized - and she had known it for some time. *Never mind. You're right. It was stupid of me to get my hopes up.* She kicked the wall, then sat down on the bunk, hiding her face in her hands. *I'm just so tired of it all. Exhausted.*  
  
Jolinar 'nodded'. *So am I. This uncertain situation and the never-ending questioning is tiresome.* She 'sighed'. *So is the endless hostility from you. Yes, you are no longer actively hostile, but I can feel your constant desire for me to leave.*  
  
*I'm sorry, but can you blame me? I mean, I realize this is not what you wanted either, but...* Sam stopped. *But I guess neither of us gains anything from this. You're right, it _ is_ tiring. I suppose we should call a cease-fire. Deal?*  
  
*Deal. Sounds good to me,* she answered, sounding both relieved and grateful for that, at least.  
  


* * *

_ August 1 1998, Alpha site _  
  
When the last group were about to leave the Alpha site, the Stargate activated just before they could finish dialling.  
  
"Incoming!" O'Neill shouted at the group.  
  
Everyone ran for cover behind the low dirt mounds that had been constructed in a half circle around the Stargate after the last attack.  
  
As expected, grenades came through first, exploding as soon as they hit the ground, only seconds after O'Neill had ducked behind the low wall beside Teal'c. The shock waves set off some of the closest of the claymores, but O'Neill was still relieved, and somewhat surprised with their luck.   
  
He had half expected shock grenades like the ones they had been exposed to on Apophis's ship. They would have been left stunned and temporarily blinded, completely at the mercy of the incoming Jaffa. Well, fortunately even a ‘god’ could make tactical errors.  
  
As soon as the explosions had subsided, Teal’c risked a quick peek. "Five Jaffa are coming through - more are arriving."  
  
O'Neill nodded. He waited a few moments, letting the Jaffa pass the area where the claymores had already exploded, then yelled. "Now!"  
  
Ferretti, pushed the button and a batch of claymores exploded, sending several Jaffa flying. Those that were able, hurried away from the area, more concerned with fleeing than anything else, which made them vulnerable to the defenders weapons fire.  
  
Another group of Jaffa stepped through, just as the last ones from the first group fell. O'Neill ordered Ferretti to blow the remaining claymores, praying no more enemies would come through. 

* * *

Finally, the Stargate shut down, and Daniel ran for the Stargate, dialling out as fast as he could.  
  
"We opened it!" He shouted. "We're safe!"  
  
"For now." O'Neill sighed. "Stay and keep it open - we can't risk another attack like this one." He turned to Teal'c, who returned from having checked on the fallen. "How many?"  
  
"Six dead and four wounded on our side, fifteen dead and five wounded on their side," Teal'c announced.  
  
O'Neill nodded, unhappily. "Shoot the Jaffa, then let's get our own through to the Beta site."  
  
"Did not General Hammond order us to take surviving Jaffa prisoners?"  
  
"Yeah, he did, but I'm not gonna give the NID guys anyone else to play with. So - there were no survivors. Got it?"  
  
"Understood."  
  


* * *

_August 5 1998, Beta site_  
  
"You wanted to see me,  _sir_?" O'Neill looked unhappily at Kinsey behind the desk, purposely ignoring Colonel Samuels who stood beside him.  
  
"Yes, it has come to my attention that you are not following orders. Is that correct, Colonel?" Kinsey asked.  
  
"No sir, who said that? I'm  _great_ at following orders."  
  
"It doesn't matter _ who_ said it. Is it true that there were surviving Jaffa after the last attack on the Alpha site? Survivors that should have been brought here for interrogation?"  
  
"Nope. No survivors. Naturally, if there  _had_ been any, we would have brought them back with us... _sir_. "  
  
"Really? I was told there  _were_ , and I have reason to believe the source. He only came to us with this information today, because he didn't want to go against the orders of his superior. I reassured him that he was doing the right thing, as we are  _your _ superiors. Colonel, did you kill those prisoners instead of turning them over to us?"  
  
O'Neill glared angrily at Kinsey, wondering who it was who had decided to report him. Damn snitch! He took a calming breath. "Okay, what the hell. Yes, I gave the order to kill them, but do you know why? Because I don't want you guys to get anyone else to play with! No one deserves that!"  
  
"You're out of order, Colonel!" Kinsey exclaimed, then looked gleefully at him. "If the situation was any different, you'd be going through court martial. As it is, we need everyone - even those like you, as deplorable as that is! Don't think you'll get out of this without punishment, though! You're in charge of guarding the Stargate during third shift...  _every_ night for the next month! Just be happy I don't demote you, but you can be  sure I'm keeping an eye on you, and if you as much as _ look_ wrong on one of my people, you get the cell beside the snake. Understood?"  
  
O'Neill ground his teeth. "Yes...  _sir_!"  
  
"Good. Dismissed."  
  
O'Neill got up and left quickly, before he did something they would all regret.  
  


* * *

_August 6 1998, Beta site_  
  
*So they finally found time to examine the dead ashrak,* Sam observed, sitting down on the bunk as soon as Jolinar gave her control.  
  
*Obviously.*  
  
*That vial they found on him - they said it contained some sort of drug, but you wouldn't tell them much about it - you just said it was used to make symbiotes undetectable to other symbiotes. Oh, and that only ashraks use it because most Goa'uld find it unnatural and 'wrong'. So, why is this making you so nervous?*  
  
*It is called Hakoor'ash. I worry they will test it on us, Samantha.*  
  
*Sam.*  
  
*What?* Jolinar sounded momentarily distracted.  
  
*If we are to spend a long time together, then could you  _please_ call me Sam instead of Samantha?*  
  
*Yes... of course, if that is your wish,* Jolinar agreed. *Just please do not use any diminutives for me!*  
  
*Don't worry, I won't!* Sam 'rolled' her eyes. *You were saying... that you worried they would test the drug on us? And that it made symbiotes undetectable to other symbiotes - that is related to that tingling or buzzing we feel when Teal'c is near, right? The one you said was due to the resonance of the naquadah in us with the naquadah in his symbiote?*  
  
*Yes.* Jolinar sighed. *Someone with naquadah in their blood can sense other naquadah-sources. We can tell the difference between different kinds also... biologically bound naquadah, raw naquadah, refined naquadah... and so on. A Tok'ra - or a Goa'uld - can sense another symbiote at a distance of about 50 feet.*  
  
*Wow - that's... strange... and useful, I guess.* Sam lay down on the bunk and yawned. She threw a look at the clock just outside the bars of her cell. 6 PM. She hoped they would bring their food soon, so she could go to bed. She always felt exhausted after the interrogations, even if Jolinar was the one in control during them.  
  
*Yes, and sometimes dangerous, if you are pretending to be a human, which the Tok'ra sometimes do.*  
  
*Which is where this drug comes in - I assume  _you_ are using it? No reason not to, unless you'll rather be caught than use something you find 'unnatural'.* Sam snorted.  
  
*No, the Tok'ra are not using it, at least not unless it is completely unavoidable, but not for the same reasons as the Goa'uld.*  
  
*What, then?* Sam looked toward the door out of the cell area, which had just opened. A man came in, carrying a tray with food for them. She got up and went to the hatch door in the cell, which was used to put the food inside. "Thanks," she said, nodding at the guard. He frowned, but said nothing and just hurried out. Sam sighed. *I really wish they would stop  doing that!*  
  
*I very much agree.* Jolinar sounded annoyed.  
  
Sam went to the bunk and sat back down, putting the tray on the small table beside it, and pulling it towards them. *You were explaining about the drug the ashrak used.*  
  
*Yes. The drug masks the naquadah in the blood of the symbiote and also the small amounts in the blood of the host. It works by forming a thin layer in the outer skin of the host, all over the body - a layer which blocks the energy signature from the naquadah completely to all others. It also partially blocks the signature you feel from others, of course.*  
  
*Okay. Why, then, did we sense the ashrak in the gateroom, if he was using the drug?* Sam picked up the MRE and looked at it. *Chicken stew. Could be worse.* She shrugged and opened the bag, then stirred it a little with the spoon, absentmindedly studying the contents before she started eating.  
  
*If you say so.* Jolinar frowned at the contents. She was getting more than tired of these ready-made meals, which they had now eaten for almost a month. She sighed and continued her explanation. *The dose he had taken before arriving on Earth had most likely been broken down. The effects are not long-lasting. Presumably, his newly healed skin was still too sensitive for him to take another dose and be able to function. The pain would likely have surpassed his ability to block.*  
  
*Uh...  _pain_?*  
  
*Unfortunately, there is a side effect to the drug forming a layer in the host's outer skin... it feels as if the skin is on fire.  _Constantly_ , until the drug has been broken down. Usually, the symbiote is able to block that sensation from itself, and it is necessary in order for it to be able to function. Even more unfortunately - and the reason the Tok'ra do not use it - is that due to the way the drug works, it cannot be blocked from the host. The symbiote has to block out and suppress the host completely, in order not to go crazy from the pain. The host will still feel it, though - it will be about the only thing he or she senses for the time the drug is used. If we are in a situation where a Tok'ra _ has_ to use the drug, we will block the memory of the experience from the host afterwards, but that is all we can do. Now, do you understand why the Tok'ra do not use this drug?* Jolinar bit out. *Even the ashraks only use it when necessary.*  
  
Sam had listened, horrified, to what Jolinar explained, completely forgetting her food in the process. *Yes, I understand... and I also understand why you don't want to tell my people about it. They would use it to make us speak, don't you think?*  
  
*Yes, it would be the only thing they have which I cannot block from you. However, they would use it because they thought they would be torturing me with it... which they would be, but in a different way than what they think.*  
  
*You have tried using it.* Sam suddenly realized.  
  
*Yes, once. I will never do it again. My people are working to try and create a version without the side effects, but they have not had much luck yet.*  
  
Sam shuddered, very much hoping their interrogators would not decide to test it on her and Jolinar. She had a very bad feeling they might, though.


	8. Unpleasant Times

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam and Jolinar suffer through some unpleasant events, together. 
> 
> Warning: torture (mentioning of both the torture and its aftereffects)

_August 8 1998, Beta site_  
  
"The building is progressing at an acceptable speed, sir," Siler said. "We now have housing in the new barracks for 1000 people."  
  
"Good, but I think we'd all hoped to have more...  by now." Hammond shook his head.  
  
"Back to basics, sir." Siler grinned wryly. "There has been some problems during the construction - mostly because we had very few men with any experience whatsoever doing something like this. We have about 10% of our people working on building, and hope to have housing for further 1500 people ready in another week. However, housing is just one project out of many - sanitation will be a problem unless it is planned correctly from the beginning. We don't want to foul the water in the river. Now, we have built some temporary latrines, but there's no place for people to bathe, except the river."  
  
"True - and eventually we'll need to find another food source, not to mention fuel, a way to produce electricity when we're out of diesel, medical supplies..." Hammond sighed deeply and slowly shook his head again. "And on top of that we're supposed to send out teams to look for weapons, tech, and allies to help us retake Earth. We'll be lucky if we find enough to keep this base running!"  
  
"We need allies. Sir, what about the Tollan? They would be advanced enough to help."  
  
Hammond nodded. "Yes, but I doubt they will - especially since the ones in charge of this base are the same people who tried to hold our Tollan refugees captive indefinitely,  _forcing_ them to share their knowledge and technology. They've also got a firm policy of not sharing technology with 'lesser' civilizations. No, I very much doubt they'd help us."  
  
"You are probably correct, sir, but it would not harm contacting them, would it? If we can find them, that is."   
  
"We don't have the address of their new homeworld - and no other way of contacting them. The Nox almost certainly have the address, but they won't give it to us. Not that we can contact them either, since I believe they buried their Stargate." He sighed. "We'll put the Tollan on the list of people our teams should attempt to find - whenever we start sending out teams again."   
  
"Understood, sir. I will take care of it."  
  


* * *

_August 9 1998, Beta site_  
  
Sam groggily sat up, then groaned softly as her head started pounding. She closed her eyes while the pain slowly faded to manageable. *Jolinar? Aren't you supposed to fix things like this?*  
  
*Yes, and I  _am_ sorry. It was much worse a little while ago, though.*  
  
*I don't remember that.* Sam opened her eyes again and slowly focused on the clock on the wall. *5 PM? Wasn't it morning? I've been unconscious for all that time? The last I remember is that damn doctor Nichols and a group of goons coming in here.*  
  
Jolinar sighed. *Yes and no. It has actually been more than two days since that happened. They injected us with a small amount of the Hakoor'ash - the drug the ashrak had on him. I attempted to block as much of the effect of it from you as I could, but it was... most unpleasant for you - and for me as well, as I attempted to take some of the pain in order to help you. Your screams made the doctor and the others leave, and when they came back I had managed to put us into a state of unconsciousness, which they regrettably awoke us from.* She sighed again. *I told them what the drug was for, and how it affected us. I am fairly certain they believed me and that they will not use it on us again. Regardless, the headache is the last remnant of the drug's effect, and it will soon be gone as well. It really is too bad we are not blended, as that would have made this experience somewhat easier for us.*  
  
*Oh my god!* Sam was quiet for a few moment, trying to grasp what had happened. *How come I don't remember any of it?*  
  
*I have blocked the memory of all of this from you, and I would very much appreciate if we refrain from thinking about this experience... though I suspect our tormentors will remind us of it the next time we do not tell them that which they desire to know.*  
  


* * *

_August 10 1998, Beta site_  
  
*I would have thought they could have given us  _one_ day off before starting to interrogate you...  _us_ again!* Sam complained as she saw Samuels enter. *Bastards!*  
  
*I'm not sure they're going to  _interrogate_ us...* Jolinar observed as doctor Nichols came through the door.  
  
*Ah, _damn_!*  
  
"Ah, hello, Jolinar. We're just going to test a few compounds on you today. Won't take long, and I'm sure you won't be bothered...  _much_ by it... so be a good snake and cooperate." He grinned evilly. "Open the cell door, men," he told the guards with him.  
  
"I have no intention of cooperating. How  _dare_ you return here after torturing my poor host so - the effects only wore off yesterday!" Jolinar exclaimed angrily.  
  
"Yeah, you go on trying to convince us you care about her." Nichols rolled his eyes. He turned to the guards. "Hold her down and make sure she remains still!"  
  
"Uh..." The guards looked at him, a nervous expression on their faces.  
  
"How do we know the Goa'uld doesn't try to take one of us?" one of the guards, a young man with short dark hair asked.  
  
"Because she knows she'll get another taste of that ashrak drug if she tries anything! So you'll be good, won't you, Jolly?"  
  
Jolinar glared angrily at him, but decided against answering. It was not worth it anyway.  
  


* * *

Sam woke up on the floor of the small washroom inside their cell. Jolinar was awake and in control.  
  
*Why are we here?* Sam asked, then immediately knew, as a wave of nausea swept over them and Jolinar hurried to the toilet to see if there was anything left in their stomach to empty out.  
  
When they were feeling marginally better, Jolinar leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes, taking several deep breaths. *As you may remember, they began by trying to determine how much tranquilizer was needed to put us both to sleep. I awoke before you did, and as they went on to test a number of other drugs on us, I decided it was better if you slept until they had finished their experiments. Our current sickness is caused by a combination of the last two of their drugs. I believe they were surprised the effect was no worse than it was. Not that it is exactly pleasant,* she remarked, sarcastically. *I had intended for you to sleep until the nausea had passed, but this constant filtering out of drugs, and healing of the injuries those bastards cause us, is wearying. I apologize.*  
  
*You've got nothing to apologize for - it's not your fault.* Sam noticed something in Jolinar's tone. *You really  _are_ quite exhausted, aren't you?*  
  
*Yes, and more than I should be, from this.* She slowly rose. A wave of nausea came and went, and she leaned, grateful, against the wall. *I shall be glad to get away from that stinking toilet. I assume we are to be happy it is there at all, since they probably have not installed many indoor facilities yet, but I do miss even the water-closet you had at the base on the Tau'ri. At least it usually smelled less in there.* She took the large pitcher that stood on the table and poured water in the bowl beside it, washing face and hands in it. After pouring some water to drink as well, they were both feeling better.  
  
*Bed, I think?* Sam suggested.  
  
*Yes, I very much agree.* Jolinar slowly stumbled to the bunk and lay down, closing her eyes.  
  
*Jolinar? What did you mean by you being more tired than you should be?* Sam asked, somewhat worried. *Is it something I should know about?*  
  
Jolinar sighed. *I have been in three different hosts this last year. It is physically exhausting, dangerous, and mentally tiring. I still grieve my two other hosts, one of whom was my host for... around one hundred of your years. I miss her very much.*  
  
*Her? Of course, you said you prefer female hosts. It's just that I know so very little about you!* Sam was quiet for a moment. *I do understand that it must be hard, emotionally, if you really liked your hosts - and I do believe that you did. I can also imagine it might be hard physically, but I really have no idea about that.*  
  
*You know very little about me because I cannot risk telling you much of anything, since you would retain that knowledge when I left you. That would endanger both my people and yourself. As for the physicals aspects... we send tendrils into the hosts brain and spine, to control the host body, and we also intermingle in other ways, in order to be able to get nutrients and oxygen, and to get rid of waste products. Some of those connections can tear and need to be regrown when we change hosts. It is physically exhausting to redo these connections. Besides all of this, I have spent several months in a host I was not blended with, and whom I of course did not suppress. I merely hid in his body. Now I am in about the same situation. It is stressful to exist in such a limbo - neither blending and sharing with the host as the Tok'ra do, not suppressing like the Goa'uld do. Stressful - and eventually dangerous.*  
  
*Dangerous?*  
  
*Yes, and all of it weakens me. Together with this torture and these experiments, the chances are not good that I will be able to leave you without killing both of us - at least not without the help of the Tok'ra.  
  
*But blending would change that?*  
  
*I would be able to better protect you, and it would be less stressful for both of us. Less physically tiring for me. We would quickly get to know each other as if we had been together for many many years.*  
  
*I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable with that - I mean, you'd know my memories, right?*  
  
*If you allowed it, yes, though it is possible to keep some of them private. It is often done, at least early in a blending. However, Samantha, you do not wish to remain my host,  _permanently_ , do you?*  
  
*No, absolutely not! I'm sorry, Jolinar - I do think you're a... nice person. I think we might have been friends if the situation was different, but I don't want this arrangement to be permanent. And  _please_ call me Sam!*  
  
*Sam. Then we should not blend.*  
  
*Why not? You said it would help you - and me.*  
  
*It would also mean that it would probably kill you if I left you. Not physically, but you would be unable to handle the loneliness. Those few hosts we have had that survived the death of their symbiote, all committed suicide shortly after, or simply wasted away.*  
  
*So it's because you think humans are weak? Because you guys handle changing host just fine!* Sam was angry, mostly because every time it seemed possible to do something to make things better, it always turned out not to be the case.  
  
*Not at all. Symbiotes have an advantage - they get a new host, who they will blend with and quickly become close to. They will still grieve deeply, but they will not suffer the loneliness of the mind that the former hosts do. Sometimes, when we cannot find a new host, the symbiote will agree to be put in a tank, or the healers will do so if the Tok'ra is unconscious and too badly damaged to heal. Those symbiotes only rarely survive for long, but die from the silence and loneliness. A few will fight and live, if they have enough cause to do so - for instance if they have a mate. So you see, it is not that I think humans weak, it is that I know how horrible it is not to have someone to share everything with, not to have a voice in your mind, when you are used to it.*  
  
*I think I understand,* Sam finally admitted, no longer angry. *It's a strange concept for me, but I do think I understand - and I also realize how terrible it must be for you, not to have a 'real' host, who will blend with you and be your... soulmate, I guess. I'm sorry about that, but - I don't really feel I'm to blame!*  
  
*Nor do I blame you, my Saman...  _Sam_. And I do not find you a terrible host - I love you, like I have loved all my hosts.*  
  
*Thank you,* Sam did not know how to respond to that. She looked towards the door of the cell, hating that they were locked up, that there was a guard, and that their tormentors would probably come back soon. *I wonder if we will ever be let out? And if we do, if my people will ever accept me again, even  _if_ you left me.*  
  
*I cannot answer that, my Sam, I am sorry.*  
  
*It's strange, what I'm thinking of right now... what saddens me, is something completely stupid. That I'm probably never going to get...  _loved_ \- by a lover, I mean.* Sam felt guilty. *I do believe you love me, but I meant...*  
  
*Physical love? Mating?*  
  
*That too, but also a, ah,  _mate_ , I guess is the word you would use, right?*  
  
*It is. I am aware you are untouched. You did not have someone special that remained on your world?* Jolinar quickly hid the image of someone, just before Sam could see the person. She got the distinct impression it was a  _someone_ , though.  
  
*No. I was engaged, though, for a short period. To an idiot, who was more in love with himself than me, and always had excuses for not having sex with me. He ended up setting himself up as a god on another world, and working the locals to death. He wasn't even a Goa'uld, so I guess your species doesn't have monopoly on  _that_ kind of behaviour.*  
  
*Unfortunately not. Do not think of him. I can assure you, that many men would find you very attractive.* She yawned. *Now, could we sleep? I really need it, and so do you.*  
  
*Yes, sleep sounds very good. Goodnight.*  
  
*Goodnight.*  



	9. Visitors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rest of SG-1 is finally allowed to visit their imprisoned team mate, and then her father. Meanwhile, on Earth, Mark meets a Goa'uld. 
> 
> Warning: minor flashback to past torture

_August 14 1998, Beta site_  
  
Daniel, O'Neill, and Teal'c waited to be allowed in to visit Sam and Jolinar in their cell. They had tried to get to talk to them for several days, but it had taken until know before they were given permission.  
  
"Sam? Uh, Jolinar?" Daniel asked, when they had been let into the area in front of the cells.  
  
"It's me, Daniel," Sam answered, a little tiredly.  
  
"It is good to see you again, Captain Carter," Teal'c said.  
  
"Thanks, Teal'c, you too - and you Daniel... Sir." She nodded at her friends, smiling at them.  
  
"We wanted to check and see how you're doing...  _Carter,_ " O'Neill said, slowly, then decided he really believed it probably was her, and not Jolinar. Mostly believed that, at least. He shook his head, then noticed how tired she looked. "How are they treating you? You look like something the cat dragged in. Aren't Goa'uld..." He rolled his eyes. "Okay,  Tok'ra, supposed to keep you in perfect health?"  
  
"Yes, and Jolinar's really doing her best. It's just that the  _damn_ doctor - Nichols - that's working for Kinsey's people, are testing out all the drugs they  _think_ might affect a symbiote."  
  
" _What_! Are you okay?" Daniel asked, worried.  
  
"Bastards!" O'Neill exclaimed, looking angry.  
  
"They are attempting to find something that can be used as a weapon against Apophis and Klorel, presumably," Teal'c said, the twitching of a muscle in his jaw the only thing giving away his anger. "A continuation of the tests they did to my prim'ta, no doubt."  
  
Sam nodded. "Yes, no doubt." She sighed. "While Jolinar is able to ensure it's not... dangerous for us, some of it's... quite unpleasant." She shuddered. "They've also attempted to determine how much and what kind of sedative works best, if you want to have the host awaken before the symbiote - probably to use for interrogating Sha're about Amaunet, though since Amaunet should already be dormant..." Sam shook her head. "I don't know." She looked at them, suddenly. "They  _did_ find her on Abydos, didn't they?"  
  
"What are you  _talking_ about Sam?" Daniel looked at her, disbelieving.  
  
"Okay, Jolinar - if that's you trying to trick us into thinking you know where Sha're is -  _again_ , then it's not working!" O'Neill exclaimed, looking angry. "Don't  _do_ that to Daniel."  
  
"I'm not Jolinar and she really  _does_ know where Share - and Amaunet - is. Or we're  _almost_ certain where she is. We told Colonel Samuels. Didn't he tell you?" Sam frowned, then gave Daniel an apologetic look. "Listen, I'm really sorry, but I thought you knew - thought they'd have told you. Maybe they didn't believe us, but they seemed like they did, and I'd have thought they'd have sent someone there pretty quickly. If not to get Sha're, then at  _least_ because Amaunet is Apophis's mate!"  
  
"They... they can't go to Abydos. Their gate is buried," Daniel said. "For another... ah... another week, then it's been one Abydonian year."  
  
"Daniel..." Sam was quiet for a moment, not sure how she was going to tell him why they thought Amaunet was on Abydos - and why they believed the Stargate was no longer buried. "It's like this..." She began explaining.  
  


* * *

"Those bastards didn't tell me!" Daniel said angrily. "Why am I not surprised? We need to go and get permission for a mission to Abydos  _immediately_."  
  
"I will support you, Daniel Jackson." Teal'c scowled. "Kinsey's people are indeed without honour."  
  
O'Neill sat quiet, thinking. He nodded slowly. "We'll go and talk to General Hammond first, and then I'm sure he'll fix it so we can go. Otherwise we're going anyway, Daniel."  
  
Sam tiredly sat down on her bunk. "I really hope you're able to take her here. As I told you, Jolinar says the Tok'ra can remove Amaunet - we just need to be allowed to contact them."  
  
"I really want to believe that." Daniel looked apologetic. "Don't worry, Sam. I... I actually do believe her. I'm just not sure we can convince the Council here to let you out to go meet them."  
  
"Especially since you mentioned earlier that you need to go alone." O'Neill shook his head. "They'll  _never_ agree to that, Carter."  
  
Sam stared blankly before her for a moment, something the others had come to recognized as meaning she was talking with Jolinar. It was one more thing that helped to convince them Jolinar was who she said she was.  
  
"Jolinar says it'll probably be all right if the three of you come along also, but no one else."  
  
O'Neill nodded. "That may work. I'll talk to the General."  
  


* * *

"Sir? I'm Colonel Jack O'Neill, these are Daniel Jackson and Teal'c. We're on you're daughters team... SG-1," O'Neill said. He gave Jacob a worried look. The man was pale and clearly not well.  
  
Jacob nodded, sitting up straighter in the chair - probably one of the only armchairs on the planet, given to him by Hammond. "George - General Hammond... he said you'd stop by when you'd got the time. So, do you have anything new to tell me about Sam? I'm assuming she's still host to this Goa'uld - and still in a holding cell?"  
  
"She is, yes," O'Neill admitted.  
  
"Jolinar is not a Goa'uld - she's a Tok'ra." Daniel insisted. "They fight the Goa'uld just as we do. There's no reason for her to be in a holding cell."  
  
"Is that so? Well, the creature still took her, didn't it? And she's still locked up, whether you think she should be or not." Jacob sounded bitter.  
  
"Yeah... well..." Daniel did not know what to say to that.  
  
"Jolinar is indeed Tok'ra, and her people are the Goa'uld resistance," Teal'c said. "Much to my disappointment, your current leaders do not seem to comprehend this."  
  
Jacob snorted. "George told me they're idiots. I know the type. Slimy politicians out to play their own agenda. You're Jaffa, correct?"  
  
"I am."  
  
"They trust you, so I guess I should trust you as well." He pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed at his forehead, then tried to get up, only to fall back into the chair. "Damn leg. Broke it - after being knocked on the head."  
  
"Just relax, sir. Can I get you anything?" O'Neill asked.  
  
"A glass of water. That doctor...  _Fraiser_ , she won't let me have anything stronger, and coffee's being rationed, so..." He shook his head.  
  
"One glass of water coming up." O'Neill smiled.  
  


* * *

_August 18 1998, Amaunet's jewel, World of the Tau'ri_  
  
Mark frowned as he looked at the long lists of people. He had been here at the 'Tau'ri Census Office', for almost a month now. It had turned out that the city that had been named 'Amaunet's Jewel', was formerly known as Colorado Springs. Due to the... the thing they called a  _chaapa'ai_ , being there, Apophis had decided to make it his capital.  
  
Marian, Mark's wife, had worked as a pastry chef before, and as luck would have it, Apophis's court actually needed an extra of those, to make 'Tau'ri style' delicacies. This meant she had gotten a highly prestigious job, but also that they were being kept very much under observation.  
  
All things considered, Mark felt they were lucky. They both had real jobs instead of working as slaves, they were together, alive and well, and had their children with them. They also had a relatively nice house, even if it was smaller than what they had before. He knew few humans lived as nicely as they did, so he was not complaining. While their children would not get to go to school - all education had been cancelled for humans - they would at least want for nothing as they grew up, as long as he and his wife did not anger Apophis. He had seen what happened to those who did, and he was very much determined not to be one of those.  
  
He sighed as he looked at the lists again. The Goa'uld wanted all humans registered and divided into categories - those that would be good, strong workers, those that might make trouble, those that were too highly educated, or had received too much technical training, and could be dangerous. Other categories contained those that would be good breeders, those that might be suitable as hosts - Mark shuddered, remembering the whispered stories he had heard - and those that should be killed outright for being a waste of resources.  
  
Mark knew that the chaapa'ai was already being used to send groups of humans offworld - to be used for slaves on other planets, and sold to other Goa'uld. He shook his head,  _offworld_. It was not so long ago that he would have laughed at anyone who said something as outrageous as that.  
  
He wondered again how his father had known about the portal. Of course - the Air Force must have known about it. No doubt Apophis had come because the Air Force had used the portal, gone to some other world, and picked a fight with these Goa'uld. Or just called their attention to Earth. Sam had worked at the Cheyenne Mountain base - the place the chaapa'ai was located. She must have known too.  
  
He was interrupted in his musings when the voice of one of the aliens barked an order behind him.  
  
"Tau'ri,  _kree_! Why has the list of slaves for Okunna Six not been delivered?"  
  
Mark cringed as he heard the distortion in the voice, which proved it was not just one of the 'Jaffa', but one of the actual 'Goa'uld' - those who claimed to be gods. All the aliens scared him, but the Goa'uld the most. The Jaffa were apparently more or less human, but this was an actual alien. An evil one, as far as he knew. He quickly stood, then kneeled down on one knee, as he had been taught to do.  
  
"My Lord. I apologize for my tardiness. You shall have the list momentarily."  
  
"See to it that it happens, if you wish to keep your current position - and your life." The Goa'uld ordered and flashed his eyes, as Mark looked up at him. Kohnak was his name, and he was an underling of Lord Eskall, who was the top Goa'uld in charge of the Census office, Mark knew.  
  
He swallowed, again being reminded of the  _otherness_ of the being in front of him, however much he looked like a human male. He felt cold fear run down his spine. "Of course, my Lord. Thank you... for your mercy." He bowed his head again.  
  
The Goa'uld turned on his heal and left.  
  
With a deep sigh of relief, Mark got up and went back to his chair, thinking briefly about these aliens. Rumours had it their true form was somewhat snake-like, or maybe eel-like, and that they needed human hosts to interact with their surroundings more effectively.  
  
He knew some humans were put in a category called 'hosts', and also which ones it was the Goa'uld preferred. Young, beautiful, strong,  _perfect_ bodies. He had helped make lists of those, even as he felt horrified thinking of these peoples fate. Well, it would happen anyway, would it not? He was  _not_ responsible, he was just doing his job.  
  
He wondered if having a human host affected these beings? From what he had seen, he had to admit they  _did_ behave fairly human in many ways, but that was probably inevitable, as they interacted with the world through a human body. He sighed, shaking his head and pushing all thoughts of the aliens aside. He had to finish this list. Quickly.  
  


* * *

_August 21 1998, Beta Site_  
  
It was almost a week after Daniel, Teal'c, and O'Neill had talked to Sam, when a team was finally given the go ahead for a mission to Abydos, and it had taken all of Hammond's connections to maneuver it so Daniel and Teal'c were allowed to go. He had not been able to get O'Neill on the team, since he was still serving out his punishment, working as guard during the night shift at the Stargate.  
  
Worried, O'Neill waited for his friends to return from the mission, hoping what Sam had told them was true.  
  


* * *

"How did it go?" O'Neill asked, concerned, when he saw Daniel's less than happy expression.  
  
"She was there! Just as Sam said! She'd been there for several  _months_!"  
  
"Whoa... slow down. Who had been there... Sha're? Amaunet?"  
  
"Sha're - Amaunet was dormant, just like Sam - and Jolinar - had said she would be. It's just that we were too late! We were going to take her back here, but then her labour started and the child had barely been born before Amaunet took back control."  
  
"Uh, couldn't you have brought her anyway? I mean, if it's true what Jolinar says, and the Tok'ra can remove a symbiote..."  
  
"We would have!" Daniel exclaimed.  
  
"Unfortunately, Heru'ur had learned of Amaunet's hiding place and came to capture her. As you know, he is an enemy of Apophis," Teal'c told him.  
  
"Heru'ur has her?"  
  
"No." Daniel shook his head. "Apophis came, and... well, long story, but he has her again. Sha're is still not free." He looked devastated. "I  _failed_ , Jack!"  
  
"You didn't fail!" O'Neill said with emphasis. "We'll get her back. What happened to the kid?"  
  
"Kasuf would find a place to hide him. It is better we do not know more than that," Teal'c said.  
  
O'Neill nodded. That was probably true. If the child indeed carried the knowledge of both Apophis and Amaunet, then his life would not be easy if he got into the hands of the NID. The same was true if any of the Goa'uld got him. That kid was basically screwed, no matter what. He felt sorry for him.  
  


* * *

"Tell me!" The Goa'uld screamed. He wore some kind of hood that hid part of his face, and all she could see of it was that he was very pale. "What is the address of the main Tok'ra base?"  
  
" _Never_!" Jolinar spat, flashing her eyes.  
  
The Goa'uld made a sign and a Jaffa pressed a short staff against Jolinar's neck. Waves and waves of intense pain and heat coursed through her, finally causing her to cry out in agony. The Goa'uld laughed at her pain.  
  
Sam awoke and sat up, gasping. It had been a dream. Just a dream, but so terrifyingly real!  
  
*It  _was_ real. I did happen. I apologize, Samantha.* Jolinar sighed, sounding distressed. *We are not blended. Normally, my dreams should not affect you. Our minds are merging. It is unfortunate, but the only way to avoid it is for me to detach myself almost completely, as I did with the Nasyan man, Sennok. I  _will not_ do that while you need my protection against our interrogators. They will not leave you alone just because I do not talk to them. Besides, it is probably too late now anyway. As I said, we are starting to blend. We must hope I can leave you soon, before the complete blending becomes unavoidable.*  
  
*Yes, you mentioned earlier that is was exhausting not to be blended.*  
  
*It is, and this constant need to heal us is not making it easier.*  
  
*Well, we can do nothing about that right now.* Sam sighed. *Tell me, who  _was_ that unpleasant Goa'uld with the hood.*  
  
*Sokar. Rosha and I were his prisoners. When he tired of torturing us, we were sent to Netu - a hellish moon circling Delmak, Sokar's main world. He uses it as a prison for various undesirables. Samantha, I would rather not dwell on this experience, so can we talk about something else? Or attempt to sleep, perhaps?*  
  
*Of course. Sorry.*  
  
They were quiet for a long time before finally being able to sleep again.  
  
Sam's thoughts went to her life, and how it had changed. How it  _would_ be changed, even if Jolinar left her. Which seemed less and less likely as time passed. For the first time that thought did not distress Sam. To her surprise and shock, she no longer really wanted Jolinar to leave. Frowning, she pushed the thought away, not ready to accept this yet.


	10. The Tollan

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Tollan are found, and agrees to visit the colony of Tau'ri.

_September 5 1998, Beta site_  
  
"Finally!" O'Neill exclaimed. "I'm sick and tired of guard duty every night for a  _month_!"  
  
"Understandable," Teal'c observed.  
  
"It's good to have you back on the team!" Daniel said. "Have you heard? They're going to begin sending out teams to other planets again."  
  
"Really?" O'Neill looked surprised. "I thought they didn't feel we had the resources."  
  
"That is why we are going to other worlds. To look for supplies," Teal'c informed him.  
  
"Well, it's going to be nice to get out there again regardless." He sighed. "We're a man short. I doubt they're going to let us put Carter and a... _Tok'ra_ on the team. Don't look so surprised, Daniel. I'm convinced she's the real thing, now, and I'm going to go talk to Hammond about it."  
  
"O'Neill. When you do so, could you also inquire if I will be allowed to visit Chulak, and see how my family fares? Bra'tac may well have useful information about Apophis for us also," Teal'c said.   
  
"I know, Teal'c, and I agree. I don't know why we haven't thought of that before, but Chulak would be an excellent place to go for information about what's going on at home," O'Neill agreed. "I'll ask.*  
  


* * *

"Did you hear? SG-4 just returned, and they say they met some  _Tollan_ on the planet they went to!" Daniel looked excited. "There's going to be a meeting - the Tollan are sending representatives!"  
  
"That's great, but I doubt they're going to help us. They have that whole superiority complex going, and I seem to remember that Omoc-fellow saying they didn't want to help inferior people. Like us. Well, if we were inferior  _then_ , what do you think we are now?" O'Neill said.  
  
"We  _did_ save some of them - and got them sent off to the Nox. I'm sure they got back home from there," Daniel pointed out. "Shouldn't they be grateful for that?"  
  
"Yeah, we did, but not until  _after_ Kinsey's people had tried getting them locked up forever, to be forced to teach us all they know! How happy do you think they're gonna be when they come here and find  _Kinsey_ in charge?"  
  
Daniel sighed and nodded. "I suppose you do have a point." He shook his head. "Have you talked to Hammond? About Sam, I mean - and going to Chulak." He added, looking towards Teal'c.   
  
"Yes." O'Neill grimaced. "He hasn't managed to convince them to let Carter out, even if there's apparently a few others who are beginning to believe the Tok'ra are real. Unfortunately, our beloved leaders are convinced Jolinar has some information we need to kill Apophis - or that they can create some sort of biological or chemical weapon against the Goa'uld, which requires a Goa'uld to test things on."  
  
"And the Tok'ra can't claim to be different from the Goa'uld biologically, even if they are so philosophically." Daniel looked pained. "Don't those idiots understand they're probably destroying our only chance of an alliance with the Tok'ra - probably the only thing that can save us right now!"  
  
"They're pretty big idiots, so I doubt it." O'Neill looked exasperated.  
  
"Well, I guess now they're hoping the Tollan will save us?"  
  
O'Neill rolled his eyes. "Ri _iiiiiii_ ght!" He sighed. "As for Chulak? I'm sorry, Teal'c, but our esteemed leaders are even bigger idiots than I'd expected. They won't let us go there. They think it's too dangerous and that we'll risk compromising ourselves - and even the promise of intel on Apophis didn't sway them." He shook his head, disgusted.  
  


* * *

_September 8 1998, Beta site_  
  
"This is your new...  _homeworld_?" The Tollan, who had introduced himself as Toron, said, with obvious disdain.  
  
"It is our  _temporary_ base. All of this has been built in less than a month!" Samuels indicated the housing of the base. "Of course, this is only until we can return to our planet."  
  
"Which has been taken over by Apophis, correct?" Narim asked.  
  
"Yes. We were hoping you could help us - a... small loan of some of your advanced weaponry, perhaps," Kinsey said.  
  
"I am afraid we cannot agree to that. To do so would put all of us in jeopardy," Toron told him.  
  
"How? You're not the ones that'll have to do the actual fighting!"  Kinsey exclaimed.  
  
"You were primitive when you still had your world. You are even  _more_ primitive now. To give you access to our advanced weapons would obviously be a mistake." Toron scoffed.  
  
"Why?" Samuels demanded.  
  
"You would use it to kill yourself, and endanger all of us," a Tollan woman, Sovla, said.  
  
" _Kill_ ourselves? We'll only use it against Apophis!" Kinsey was enraged.  
  
"Perhaps at first, but when he is gone, you will use the weapons against yourselves - or other, even more primitive civilizations. Our weapons might be exposed to the Goa'uld, and if they learn about them, we will be at risk. No, it is better to allow Apophis to keep your world. You can begin anew here. Maybe it will be educational for you," Toran suggested. "Then, when you have reached a more acceptable technological level we may talk again. If you should survive."  
  
"Perhaps... it's time for a break?" Daniel offered, nervously. He had been invited in the capacity of advisor, since he had experience with the Tollan, and since they - at Narim's suggestion - had demanded either he or Sam be present.  
  
The two groups glared at each other for a moment, then agreed to take a recess.  
  
"Doctor Jackson, where is Samantha?" Narim asked. "I had hoped to meet her again."  
  
"Ah, it's... complicated." Daniel looked uncomfortable. "You see, she's... in a holding cell."  
  
"A holding cell?" Narim looked uncomprehending. "You mean to say she has committed some crime and has been imprisoned? It does not sound like something she would do!"  
  
Daniel shook his head, taking a deep breath. "No, and she hasn't. She... is currently a host. To a Tok'ra."  
  
"A  _Tok'ra_?" Narim looked even more confused. "I still do not understand. Why would you keep a Tok'ra imprisoned? Do you not know who they are?"  
  
"Uh, Goa'uld resistance, yeah. Usually they only take willing hosts, and coexists peacefully with their host... all that, yes, we know."  
  
"Why, then? I would have thought they would be welcomed?"  
  
"Well, not everyone believes the Tok'ra are real - and a fair number doesn't care. A snake is a snake - according to them."  
  
"This is most disturbing. The Tok'ra are friends of ours. This will not work in your favour."  
  
"Frankly, does it matter? You're not going to give us any help anyway, are you? Even emergency aid."  
  
Narim was quiet for some time before he answered. "No, I fear that is correct. It was... difficult, to get the Curia to agree to send a diplomatic mission here. After all, one of your organisations attempted to imprison us and force us to share our knowledge, when last we were on your world. Learning that you have elected as leaders those very people, is... disquieting, to say the least. To learn that you are keeping not only one of your own - an innocent person - but also a Tok'ra, imprisoned, will likely mean Toran will decide to terminate any further talks and return immediately."  
  
Daniel nodded. "To be honest, I can't say I blame you. Since you know the Tok’ra, could you perhaps give us contact info to find them?"  
  
“No, please do not ask me that. To do so would be betraying their trust, besides, to be honest, I do believe it is almost always the Tok’ra who contact us.”  
  
“I understand.” Daniel sighed.   
  
"Will you do one thing for me? Give my greetings and wishes for a better future to Samantha."  
  
"Of course." Daniel promised.  
  


* * *

It turned out exactly as Narim had expected, and the Tollan left shortly after, telling the Tau’ri in no uncertain terms that any sort of cooperation was off the table.   
  
"How  _dare_ these aliens talk to us like that!" Kinsey spat. "We  _saved_ their people when they had destroyed their own world, but do  _they_ want to help  _us_ against a common enemy?"  
  
"Actually, they don't consider the Goa'uld their enemies and while we  _did_ rescue a group of them..." Daniel began.  
  
"Why are you still here? You don't have clearance! Please escort him out, Samuels!" Kinsey ordered.  
  
"Yes, sir," Samuels said. "Doctor Jackson." He indicated the door and Daniel sighed and started walking.  
  
Behind him, Daniel heard Kinsey and the others turn to the problems the colony would be facing in the near future. Food was fast running out, and while they had been able to stretch it some by hunting and scavenging a little in the forests and mountains around the base, it was not enough to feed 10000 people.   
  
Attempts had been made to trade for food, but that had also not been very successful. They had little to offer in return for the food, and most human worlds were unwilling to trade large amounts of food to people they did not know - in exchange for things they knew little about. The only thing the majority of villagers were interested in were medical supplies, and that was something the refugees had very little extra of.   
  
Another problem was keeping the water of the river clean for drinking, when it was also the only possibility for bathing and cleaning. There were many other smaller and larger things that they would soon be out of, and even ammunition and explosives would not last forever.  
  
"Perhaps it's time we took a different approach," Mark Devlin said. He was one of Kinsey's men, who had originally signed up to be part of the NID.  
  
"What did you have in mind?" Kinsey asked.  
  
"All we've done is  _ask_ the people of other worlds to trade with us, and they've had the audacity to turn us down!  _We're_ the ones who risk our lives to fight the Goa'uld. They're doing nothing! Hell, they seem to even  _like_ being treated the way they are by the Goa'uld, and they haven't even  _attempted_ to do something. Why should we suffer when they have food? I say we, ah, be a little more insistent that they hand over their goods."  
  
The door closed behind Daniel, so he did not hear what the others in there answered, but they  _couldn't_ agree to that, could they? Devlin was suggesting they raid other planets for food and resources! Daniel shook his head, shocked. He decided to go talk to Hammond immediately, and have  _him_ find out if Kinsey's group were going to do something like this!  
  


* * *

_September 9 1998, Beta site_  
  
"Sir? Did you find out if they're  _actually_ going to raid other planets, like Daniel heard them say?" O'Neill asked, worriedly.  
  
"They're not. For now, anyway. I still have some people I can trust and who reports to me, and they tell me that there were some members of the Council who liked the idea, but that it was ultimately voted down. I suspect the suggestion will come back and carry a lot more weight when people actually start to go hungry." Hammond sighed. "Which may happen soon. With the extra food that have been found locally, as well as the food we  _have_ been able to trade for, we only have enough food for another 2 weeks."  
  
"That's bad, sir." O'Neill frowned. "I do have some good news for you. I passed Siler on the way here, and he told me we have housing built for almost 8000 people now, and with the tents no one is forced to sleep under an open sky anymore."  
  
"That's good to know. How long until everyone is out of tents and has a solid roof over their heads?"  
  
"Another two weeks at most, sir. Yeah, I know it's just barracks, with shared sleeping quarters. Anything else will take a  _lot_ longer, but it's getting cold outside, so...." He shrugged.  
  
"It's a big accomplishment, but without food it's not gonna matter for much longer."  
  
"No, that's true."  
  
"Sir, you need to talk to the Council again. Convince them to trust Jolinar. Perhaps... perhaps the Tok'ra can help?" Daniel said.  
  
"Why would they? After how we've been treating Jolinar?" O'Neill pointed out.  
  
"The Tau'ri  _do_ have something the Tok'ra need, more than anything," Teal'c reminded them.  
  
"Hosts." Hammond nodded. "The Council is never going to agree to it, you  _know_ that - even if they should surprise me and agree to let out Jolinar and Captain Carter."  



	11. Talking and Learning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam and Jolinar get to speak some more together - and the rest of SG-1 start to work on a plan. 
> 
> Warning: mention of torture

_September 14 1998, Beta site_  
  
*I know you don't want to share anything with me, lest I risk betraying you after you've gotten another host, but that's not looking as if it’s likely to happen and I'm bored out of my skull. There must be  _something_ you can tell me about yourself or the Tok'ra, or something you've experienced, without risking your people?* Sam complained.  
  
Jolinar thought about it. *There is, Sam. I can tell you a  _little_ about my life - about some of my previous hosts, perhaps, if you would like?*  
  
*Sure, why not? Maybe I'll end up understanding their reasoning's, even. So, why did they become hosts? I'm assuming they were sick or injured, and agreed to blend to be healed?*  
  
*Not exactly. While it is true that some humans chose to become hosts because of that, it is far from the only reason. Understand, Sam, that not all cultures look the same on privacy and sharing, as yours do.* She sighed. *No, the biggest problem when we look for hosts is that people fear us, because we are biologically the same as the Goa'uld. Since we also have to keep our existence secret, it is not exactly easy to convince anyone that we can be trusted. Also, the life of a Tok'ra is hard and dangerous, and the hosts usually have to leave their friends and family behind.*  
  
*Okay, what other reasons are there?*  
  
*A wish to fight the Goa'uld. There are few other ways to do so for most humans on the Goa'uld worlds. Many join for that. Some because they wish for a different life than what they can have, with the poverty most humans live in. Maybe they have nothing left because the Goa'uld have killed their friends and family. A very few even joins because they wish to save the life of a Tok'ra symbiote - either because they were friends with it, or simply to save a fellow sentient lifeform. I do admit the number in the latter group is few, and I think we only have one host right now who joined because of that.*  
  
*Hm, well, I suppose I can see those reasons, though I'm not sure any of them would have been my choice.* Sam was quiet for a moment. *Though I guess that's unfair - I want to believe I would try to fight the Goa'uld any way possible, even if I had grown up on another world. Knowing what I do about you - and the Tok'ra - I might have chosen to join you in order to fight the Goa'uld.*  
  
*It is impossible to know how ones life would have been, had things happened differently.* Jolinar sounded contemplative. *I, too, want very much to believe I would have been the same person, had my early youth been different, but the honest answer is that I do not know. Sam, there is something I should probably tell you...*  
  
*What? You sound as if it's not something I'll like.*  
  
*Because it is not. I do not much enjoy it myself, but it is nonetheless a fact. Have you wondered how the Tok'ra came to be?*  
  
*Yes, I have. I have wondered about that a lot, actually.*  
  
*You know what a symbiote queen is.*  
  
*Yes, like Hathor.*  
  
Jolinar nodded. *Exactly. A little over 2000 years ago, a Goa'uld queen, Egeria, found she did not like the way her kind behaved...*  
  


* * *

*So you're saying that almost all the Tok'ra are born this way? With the desire to fight the Goa'uld, to only take willing hosts, and to share the body with the host?*  
  
*Yes, all but a very few. Sam, I am one of those few who were originally Goa'uld.*  
  
* You were a Goa'uld?*  
  
*A System Lord, actually, and not a minor one. I was once one of the most powerful ones - until Apophis joined the battle against me.*  
  
Sam was quiet for a long time. *You were a  System Lord. I mean, I did originally think you and all the Tok'ra were former Goa'uld, but I thought you had been very minor ones. I'll have to admit it's pretty shocking to realize you were a System Lord - and that most Tok'ra were  _born_ Tok’ra, but not you.*  
  
*I promise, my change of allegiance is a genuine one. I am a loyal Tok'ra, and would  _never_ again become a Goa'uld!* Jolinar insisted emphatically. *I am deeply ashamed of my past.*  
  
*I believe you. Actually, you should be proud - as opposed to the others, you actually changed yourself. That must have been very difficult.*  
  
*I cannot take complete credit for that. My first host helped me tremendously, and I fear I would be a very different person, were it not for her.*  
  
*Jolinar, we're all affected by those around us. Yes, maybe she helped you, but I believe that you  _are_ a good person.*  
  
*Thank you. Would you like me to tell you about my first host?*  
  
*Yes, very much.*  
  
*Her name was Arnora...* Jolinar began, but she was interrupted when the door to the cell area was opened, and Doctor Nichols entered, followed by several others. *I fear my story shall have to wait, my Sam.*  
  
"Hello again, Jolinar." Nichols smirked. "I've brought someone who would like to meet you. His name is Doctor Keffler. He is a very competent scientist, specializing in genetics. He is very interested in the healing ability of symbiotes, and we have some tests we would like to perform."  
  
Jolinar had taken over control, and glared at the men. She and Sam both braced themselves for what was to come.  
  


* * *

_September 15 1998, Beta site_  
  
"Sam?" Daniel asked, as soon as they were allowed into the cell area. He quickly walked toward the holding cell where Sam and Jolinar were imprisoned. It had been a long time since they last had been allowed to see her.  
  
Sam and Jolinar had been sleeping, and awoke, sitting up groggily. Sam took control. "Yes?" She smiled. "Daniel - and Teal'c...  _sir_! I'm so happy to see all three of you!"  
  
"Carter." O'Neill nodded at her. "How're ya doing?" He frowned. "What happened?"  
  
"You have been injured," Teal'c observed.  
  
"Yeah..." Sam carefully touched the newly healed and still pink skin on her cheek. She frowned as she looked at her right hand, where the little finger was missing. She sighed. "Doctor Nichols and his new friend Keffler are interested in the healing abilities of symbiotes. The bastards made a few cuts and burns, and cut off a finger, as you can see." She held up the hand.  
  
"Oh, my god!" Daniel looked shocked. "Have they given you any painkillers?"  
  
Sam shook her head. "No, but Jolinar has been able to block most of the pain, and except for the finger, everything else is healed already. She promises there won't even be scars. The finger will take a little longer, especially since she's exhausted from fixing everything else, but it should grow back completely in time."  
  
"How can you be so calm about it?" O'Neill exclaimed. "I'd want to kill them, if I were you -  _Hell_ , I _do_ want to kill them!"  
  
"I share O'Neill's sentiment. These people do not deserve to live," Teal'c said, calmly, but very coldly.  
  
"Oh, I agree. I think it would be safe to say that Jolinar and I might both like to shoot them - or even kill them in a somewhat slower fashion, but what can I do?" Sam gave the wall a frustrated kick, before sitting down against it, looking out through the bars at her friends.  
  
"Sam, you've got to get out of here! Both of you must understand that! Those bastards are just going to continue until they kill you! There must be  something Jolinar knows that'll make them let you out!" Daniel insisted.  
  
"Not anything she'll tell them - and truth be told, she's got nothing useful on Apophis. Believe me. We've been... comparing notes." She gave Jolinar control.  
  
"I know a great deal about Apophis, but nothing that is pertinent to your situation. I have no new knowledge about him, except that which I already shared about his queen. I understand your people squandered this information." Jolinar scoffed.   
  
"Yeah, I'm not happy about that either, believe me!" Daniel said. "I'm probably way  _way_ more unhappy about it than anyone else!"  
  
"Regardless, I do know one thing. The Tok'ra have... or had, as I do not know if they are still alive... two operatives onboard Apophis's ships. I do not know if my people knew these operatives had travelled to the world of the Tau'ri, but I suspect not. In any case, I am not exactly 'up to date' on what has happened in the last many months. I was on the run, and then hiding on Nasya - and  _then_ stuck here in your holding cell, being  _experimented_ on - for a total of almost ten months. Before that I was undercover for nearly six months, during which I only received sparse information, so I am  _sorry_ , but I really do not have anything to tell your people about Apophis!"  
  
"Well, that's too bad, because I doubt they'll let you out otherwise!" O'Neill said, harsher than he meant. He shook his head. "Sorry. It really  _is_ too bad.“ He sighed. “There is something we need to tell you - something we need to tell  _Carter_."  
  
Jolinar looked at him for a moment, then dipped her head and gave Sam control.  
  
"What is it?" Sam asked, somewhat concerned.  
  
"I don't know if you've been told that your father is here at the Beta site..." O'Neill began.  
  
"No, I haven’t been told! How is he? Can I talk to him?"  
  
"We were under orders not to tell you... still  _are_ , I suppose, but frankly I don't care about that anymore." He paused for a moment. "General Hammond had asked him to help with the evacuation, and when he was injured, they brought him with them when they went offworld. Don't worry, he's healing." He quickly told her at her worried look. "He knows you're here, but you may have guessed, he's not allowed to see you."  
  
"And he thinks I'm the enemy right now... with me being in a holding cell and all! He must think I'm a traitor!" Sam looked unhappy.   
  
"No, no. Hammond has explained about Jolinar - and I think he’s also told him that she's Tok'ra, but I'm not sure about that. Anyway, there's something else... Carter, you're father is sick. Some kind of cancer..."  
  
"Lymphoma," Daniel said, helpfully.  
  
O'Neill nodded. "Yeah, that."  
  
"How bad is it?" Sam swallowed, taking a deep breath when they did not answer immediately. "It's bad. He's dying, right?"  
  
"Listen, Sam, they don't know... he could..." Daniel began.  
  
"Yeah, he is. They don't have much in the way of medical care here. Nothing to treat anything more than the most basic, so... I'm afraid he is."  O'Neill looked apologetic.  
  
Sam looked numb for a moment, then got a distant look in her eyes as Jolinar spoke to her. She looked up after some minutes. "Jolinar says that a symbiote can heal him - if we’re allowed to contact the Tok'ra."  
  
"Sorry, Carter. They'll never agree to that." O'Neill shook his head.  
  
"Then let us go and find a healing device, and see if we can  _at least_ help him a little with that!" Sam exclaimed.  
  
O'Neill shook his head again. "They won't let you out, Carter, not as long as Jolinar is in your head... and I told you that you wouldn't be allowed to contact the Tok'ra."  
  
Jolinar took over again, as Sam needed time. "I do not need to contact the Tok'ra to get a healing device."  
  
"How, then?"  
  
"I have my ways."  
  
"What else could you get?" Daniel asked, suddenly interested. "Do you think there's something that could help us here at the base? Because then they  _might_ decide to like you better."  
  
"You need food, I presume? I believe I can help you with that. The Tok'ra have 'stashes' of valuables hidden here and there for operatives who are for one reason or another unable to contact the base and needs funds and other things to, for instance, masquerade as a minor Goa'uld. There would, among other things, be valuables we can trade for food."  
  
"That's good." O'Neill nodded. "Very good. We also have a number of other problems, but I guess food is the most immediate."  
  
"You are in need of bathing facilities and in general of sanitary installations. As it is now, you rely on people bathing rarely, and obeying the order not to bathe near where you get the drinking water. This is obviously not working. Am I correct?"  
  
"Unfortunately, yes," Daniel admitted.  
  
"The Tok'ra have ways to quickly construct sanitation and such, even though we usually do not have to construct facilities for as many as 10000 people at once."  
  
"That's great!" Daniel said, looking happy.  
  
"Of course, you need to go to your people for those..." O’Neill observed.   
  
"Yes." Jolinar agreed.   
  
"Then... let's start with the food. Just tell us where this 'stash' is, and where to go for the food."  
  
"No." Jolinar shook her head. "I  _have_ to come with you. You cannot open the hiding place - and it is not easy to find, on purpose. You need me when we go to buy the food as well."  
  
"Listen, no offense, but the Council won't trust you - they  _may_ agree to listen after they get the goods, but not now. How are they to know you won't just walk off and go to the Tok'ra?"  
  
"Then you three go with us. Will they accept  _that_?" Jolinar sounded exasperated. "I guarantee you I shall return with you. Samantha wishes to see her father, and attempt to help him. You have my word that I will return."  
  
"You trustworthiness is not in question," Teal'c said. "Not by me, though I have no confidence in this Council."  
  
"Yeah, I know what you mean." O'Neill sighed, then made a decision. "Listen, we'll see what we can come up with. We'll be back. Just - take care of each other, okay?"  
  
"We will, O'Neill." Jolinar sat down on the bunk, still tired.  
  


* * *

"Jack, we can't let them stay in that cell! Didn't you see what they'd done to them? They'd burned them - and cut off a finger! How long do you think it'll take before they decide to test stuff to find out what will kill a symbiote?" Daniel exclaimed. “What do you think that will do to Sam?”   
  
"It is likely that will happen. I agree," Teal'c said.  
  
"I  _know_ , okay? We're not going to let them stay in there, but I really don't think the Council will  _ever_ agree to let her go anywhere." O’Neill sounded frustrated.   
  
"What is your plan, O'Neill?" Teal'c said, sensing his friend had one.  
  
"We can't talk here. Come."  
  



	12. Escape

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam and Jolinar escape, helped by their team mates.

_September 16 1998, Beta site_  
  
Next evening, late. Sam and Jolinar awoke from the sound of zat'nik'tels firing just outside the door to the cell area. Moments later the door opened and O'Neill entered, followed by Daniel and Teal'c.  
  
"Okay, we need to hurry, so I hope you're ready to run!" O'Neill whispered as he quickly unlocked and opened the door to the cell.  
  
"Is this a jail break, sir?" Sam asked, smiling a little despite still being somewhat groggy.  
  
"We had to do  _something_ to help you guys, right?" O'Neill grinned.  
  
They ran quickly towards the Stargate, all the time expecting to hear someone yelling at them to stop and surrender, but nothing happened.  
  
"How come no one is guarding the Stargate?" Sam wondered. "Shouldn't it always be guarded?"  
  
"It is - from over behind those bushes there." O'Neill waved towards them while Jolinar took over and dialled an address. "I got  _something_ out of being on guard duty every night for a month. I know who are my friends and who I can trust. They have agreed to pretend they didn't see anything. They don't much care for Kinsey and his gang either." He grinned wryly. "Since they already got night shift at the gate - the job the Council uses for punishing people - they can't get punished further. Unless the Council starts to use capital punishment, which I suppose they'll do soon enough!"  
  
"Where are we going?" Daniel asked.   
  
"Stop-over world. I cannot risk anyone seeing the address and following," Jolinar said.   
  


* * *

"You  _can_ trust me, you know. I gave you my word, and I am not going to try to escape. Sam wishes to return to her father, and I would not do something that might prevent her from doing so," Jolinar said.  
  
They had finally gotten to the planet Jolinar said the Tok'ra had a 'stash' on. She had much preferred to go alone, but O'Neill, Daniel, and Teal'c had insisted on following, and she had eventually relented.  
  
"So, where is it?" O’Neill asked.   
  
"In the valley behind the small mountain with the two peaks." Jolinar pointed.  
  
"That's... not very specific. I hope you have more precise descriptions, or we're gonna be here a  _long_ time!" O'Neill complained.  
  
"I do," Jolinar said, not feeling like elaborating, since they would get there soon enough.  
  
*Jolinar... I am grateful that you will respect my wish, and return with me. I really do wish to see Dad again, and I don't know how long he has.*  
  
*Of course, Samantha, you are my host. I would never do something to distress you, unless it was of the utmost importance.*  
  
Sam ignored that Jolinar was again calling her ‘Samantha’. The symbiote had gotten better at calling her ‘Sam’, but using a nickname like that was clearly not something she was used to - or liked.   
  
*However, I sense there is actually something... it's important for you to return, isn't it? I mean, not just because you want to go back to your people, I get that, but for some other reason, isn't that right?* Sam probed.   
  
*You have noticed it. I suppose I should not be surprised, as you are intelligent, and it is also getting harder to keep our minds completely separate. They are merging, which means finding a new host will soon be urgent - and given my weakened state, I cannot change hosts without going to the Tok'ra for assistance. Perhaps not even then.* Jolinar sighed. *That is a problem for later. You deserve an answer, and yes, there is a very important reason I need to go back to my people soon, unless it is already too late. I cannot give you details, but all you need to know is that while undercover with Cronus, I learned that there is a spy on the base I belong to. I do not believe he will cause immediate problems, as it sounded as if his mission right now was to lie low and wait, only reporting very little, but it is only a matter of time before my people will be in grave danger.*  
  
*When we've finished this mission, and seen my Dad, we'll ask again to be allowed to go to the Tok'ra. They ought to be grateful enough to permit it, and they should also realize we need to go. For several reasons.*  
  
*I hope you are correct, my Samantha.*  
  
It took them about an hour to get to the valley, and Jolinar went directly for a small cleft partly hidden by a group of low bush-like trees, with thick, gnarly branches. The trees looked like they had been there for several hundred years, which made sense. You would not want to chose a landmark that disappeared quickly.  
  
"This is the place?" Daniel asked, as Jolinar squeezed between the trees and the rock face, to get to the narrow opening.   
  
"It is. Remain where you are, and make sure no one surprise us." She leaned as far into the cleft as she could and felt along the rock until she found what she was looking for - the place where she could sense the almost-cloaked energy-signal from naquadah. She touched her hand to the spot, and focused on the hidden cache, which opened when it received the neural signal. It was controlled similar to healing devices and hand devices - and like those, it also needed naquadah in the blood to react.  
  
A door opened noiselessly in the rock wall, a soft light coming on in the small room inside.  
  
Daniel and O'Neill both gasped, and stared in surprise at the previously hidden chamber.  
  
"Impressive," Teal'c said.  
  
"Thank you." Jolinar stepped into the room and started looking for the things she wanted.  
  
*A hand device?* Sam wondered, as Jolinar stuffed the weapon into her pocket.  
  
*May well prove useful when we go to the market place. The planet is not exactly harmless, and your team mates did not want to let me have a weapon.* She grabbed a healing device. *To help your father - hopefully.*  
  
"What have ya got in there?" O'Neill stuck his head inside and looked. "Any funky Tok'ra tech-goodies?"  
  
"Not in a place as easily accessible as this."  
  
"Easily accessible?" O'Neill snorted. "You guys are a paranoid bunch, you know that?"  
  
"We are still alive."  
  
"True enough." O'Neill shrugged. "Okay, what are you getting us, then?"  
  
"A healing device, with which I hope to help Sam's father somewhat, and some valuables to use for buying various goods for your colony." She chose a medium-sized trunk from the shelves and looked in it, then picked it up and handed it to O'Neill. "This should be enough."  
  
"Whoa!" O'Neill almost dropped the box, but managed to get a better grip on it and keep the hold. "That is  _heavy_." He looked with some surprise at Jolinar. "You give your hosts quite some extra strength."  
  
"We do, yes." Jolinar smiled wryly. "I apologize. I did not do this to you on purpose."  
  
"Hm." O'Neill sounded unconvinced, but decided to leave it at that and stepped outside with the trunk, Jolinar following. The door closed silently behind them.  
  
"What's in the box?" Daniel asked, curiously.  
  
"Gold, jewelry, and various gemstones," Jolinar informed him.  
  
He lifted the lid and looked into it. "No kidding! It's a treasure!"  
  


* * *

A couple hours later, they arrived on the planet which had a large market place where Jolinar expected to do some trading. Since they were bringing jewelry, they would not be buying directly from the farmers on any of those worlds the Tok'ra otherwise traded with.   
  
The farmers almost always preferred things that could be put to immediate use in their daily life, or things they desperately needed, as many of them were poor. Also, they often had few opportunities to go offworld to trade, and since gold was not something they could afford in any way, they might very well be killed by the Jaffa for owning expensive jewelry.  
  
So, SG-1's options were to either trade the jewelry for something the farmers needed, or to use a trader who acted as a kind of middle man, buying and selling what each wanted, but often taking a hefty commission. Some worlds had their own currencies, and there was of course the somewhat standard currency of the Goa'uld worlds, shes'ta. However, most trading was done by barter, or in the case of very expensive things - like armies or motherships... or assassinations - weapon's grade naquadah was used as payment.   
  
"Where are we going?" O'Neill asked, not liking to be kept in the dark.  
  
"To a trader called Gehlak. He has reasonably good prices, and can usually get most kinds of food and many other supplies. It might be difficult for him to get hold of so large amount as we need quickly, but we shall see."  
  
"Who can we go to otherwise?" Daniel wondered, interested.   
  
Jolinar considered this. "There are various options. If no one else can get us what we need, I suppose I could try and contact Travik. He can get you  _anything_ you want. However, that would require you to let me go off on my own for some time, which you do not seem inclined to do."  
  
"Let's try this Gehlak-fellow before we consider anything else." O’Neill decided.   
  
"Of course, we could also go to my people. They would be able to help us get what we need to make bathing facilities and sanitation for your base." Jolinar remarked, knowing very well O’Neill and the others could not let her do that.   
  
"Sorry, no can do. It's not that we don't trust you, but... well, what if they decide to capture  _us_ , and won't agree to let us go?" O’Neill pointed out.   
  
Jolinar shook her head, despairing at the distrust. However, she listened to Sam, and so did not tell them what she thought. She sighed. "We shall focus on the food and maybe some other supplies, then." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "You need intelligence on Apophis. It is limited what I can get when I am not allowed to contact the Tok'ra, but I  _could_ attempt to contact some of our informers, if we can stay here for a few days, and you will agree to let me leave on my own - only for a few hours, I assure you."  
  
"Hmmm..." O'Neill thought it over, then shook his head. "No, as tempting as that is, I can't risk it. Jolinar, I do trust that you won't try to escape, it's just... if I'm wrong about you, which I don't think I am, then I don't want to risk you going off with knowledge about the Beta site - or perhaps telling that informer of your’s the gate address." He looked apologetic.  
  
"As I expected. Oh, well." She bowed her head and gave Sam control.  
  
"I will be in control for the duration of the trade. The trader is a human, and he'd not react so well to suddenly having what he thinks is a Goa'uld in his house. He wouldn't dare harm us, but he'd probably also not dare trade with us and in any case we don't want people to know and perhaps tell the Goa'uld who owns this world. Jolinar tells me that the Tok'ra do not like to impersonate their host unless it's absolutely necessary. She'll guide me through the trade."  
  
"So she doesn't like to impersonate her host? What was it she did at the SGC, then?" O'Neill said, sarcastically. "I seem to remember she was doing just that!"  
  
Sam's eyes flashed as Jolinar finally had enough of his insinuations and distrust. "It was an emergency situation, human, and I had no knowledge of your people, other than what I got from my panicked host! I deeply regret what happened, but do not for a moment think it is normal behaviour for the Tok'ra!"  
  
"Whoa, calm down, guys!" Daniel said and stepped in between them. "Let's get this over with, then you can discuss this when we get back."  
  
Jolinar took a deep breath, and listened to Sam's calming words as well as Daniel's. She nodded. "Of course." She gave Sam control again.  
  
"All right, guys. Shall we get this over with?" She looked at Teal'c, noticing his knitted hat had slid up a little bit, and part of his golden tattoo was visible. "Teal'c..." She touched her forehead, and he immediately understood, fixing the hat.  



	13. Trade and an Attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SG-1 and Jolinar go to trade and buy supplies for the Tau'ri colony.

After a long and boring haggling session, SG-1 and the trader finally reached an agreement. They bought sacks of flour, beans, rice, potato-like tubers, dates, and apples. They also got salt, oil, honey, and onions. In addition to this, they acquired live cows, chicken, and geese - something which O'Neill kept commenting on. However, it was the easiest way to move meat and eggs, and it would store better. They could even breed the animals, if they decided it was feasible to keep farm animals.  
  
"Why do we have to wait for three whole days? Didn't you say this trader had everything?" O'Neill complained.  
  
"Jolinar says that he does, but that we are buying rather large amounts. Also, she, ah, asks you to consider whether it seems practical for him to have live farm animals inside the city." Sam smiled wryly, as she reformulated what Jolinar had said, but in somewhat more palatable terms.  
  
She was actually beginning to appreciate Jolinar's often rather acerbic humour and almost complete lack of tact. If nothing else, the symbiote had no shortage of sarcastic comments about anything and everything, and she reacted very badly to authorities.   
  
Sam could understand her stance, but it was not always the best way of handling things, so she felt it was a good thing Jolinar left her in control much of the time. Much of the time  _except_ for when they were being exposed to idiots like Kinsey or Samuels, or one of Kinsey's other lackeys. Sam no longer felt like panicking when she was not in control of her body - had not done so for a very long time, actually - so she actually appreciated that Jolinar handled  _those_ interactions.  
  
"Hmph. Okay, I guess I can see that. So, where are we going?" O’Neill asked.   
  
"To find an inn to stay in. Jolinar says there are seven guesthouses in this city. Two are above our level, as they only allow Goa'uld and their most trusted slaves. Three are below the class we are pretending to belong to, which means we have three to choose from. They are..." Sam frowned. "I believe 'The Grumpy Porcupine' is the closest translation I can come up with, after the image she shows me of the animal it’s named for." Sam smiled. "Then there’s 'The Wanton Maid', and finally, ah, 'The Weeping Cock'."  
  
Daniel grinned, but Teal'c did not react to the names.  
  
O'Neill snorted. "With those options I think we'll pick 'The Wanton Maid'."  
  


* * *

"So, four mugs of beer, and four bowls of stew with bread. I'll bring it in a moment, sweetheart." The waitress winked at Sam.  
  
"Uh, thanks..." Sam smiled.  
  
" _Three_ mugs of beer - and one cup of water." Teal'c insisted.  
  
"Of course, sir." The waitress gave Sam a warm smile and left to get their order, taking care to sway suggestively with her hips as she did so.  
  
*She is cute, but I would strongly advise against you leading her on. We do not need the distraction, and besides, I already have mates, and I would very much prefer to be faithful to them. I realize they are not  _your_ mates, unless you decide to remain my host, but...*  
  
*Jolinar! I am  _not_ interested in her! I... ah... I prefer  _men_ , and besides, I'm not exactly in the mood to have an affair with  _anyone_ , so you don't need to worry about betraying your mates. Wait...  _Jolinar,_ you have  _mates_! Why haven't I heard anything about this? Don't you think that would be reasonably to  _tell me_!*  
  
*Since you have shown no desire to remain my host, I would prefer you remain in the dark about my life, my people, and especially my loved ones. Any knowledge you have about them would only endanger them, should you meet them one day, or should the Goa'uld capture you.*  
  
"Here you go..." The waitress put down a mug before Sam, giving her another big smile, then served the others at the table. "I'll be back with your food in a moment."  
  
"Hm." Sam gave her an awkward smile, then turned to her grinning team mates.  
  
"I think she likes you, Sam," Daniel commented.  
  
Sam rolled her eyes, but did not feel like answering.  
  
"She's nice," O'Neill said, looking after the young woman. She reminded him a little of a young version of his wife.  
  
"At least she's got good taste." Sam grinned.  
  
"Jeez." He shook his head, smiling.  
  
The waitress soon returned with their food, then again later, to see if they wanted more to drink. By now she had understood Sam was not interested, so she sent her an unhappy look and instead smiled widely at Teal'c.  
  
"Are you  _sure_ you do not want any beer? Or perhaps, wine? Such a big strong fellow as you must want something stronger than water." She winked at Teal'c and ogled his muscles.  
  
"Quite sure," Teal'c said.  
  
"Uh, I'd like some more beer..." O'Neill said, but the waitress did not notice him. "If it's not too much of a bother..."  
  
Daniel snickered, and Sam smiled as well, while O'Neill just groaned and shook his head, as the waitress smiled at Teal'c again.  
  


* * *

Teal'c heard them first, as he was the only one not asleep. Jolinar woke almost immediately, though, and quickly and silently sat up in bed, feeling for the hand device she had managed to hide under her pillow.  
  
"There is someone outside the door," Teal'c whispered, taking his weapon and moving to wake Daniel who slept not far from him.  
  
Jolinar nodded, sliding out of her bed while putting on the hand device. She slipped over to O'Neill and touched his shoulder, waking him. "Unwelcome guests. Outside the door," she whispered.  
  
O'Neill sat up without making a sound, grabbing his MP-5 that was lying beside the bed. He barely had time to close his hands around it, when the door was suddenly kicked open and several people entered, weapons at the ready. The first of them immediately fired a bolt of energy from his zat'nik'tel, hitting O'Neill and stunning him.  
  
Teal'c opened up with the MP-5 he had reluctantly brought along instead of his staff weapon, which had been deemed too noticeable. Jolinar launched a shock wave from her hand device, sending several of the men flying. The rest immediately stopped and stared at Jolinar, recognizing the weapon and the implication. Teal'c fired at them again, and Jolinar sent off another shock wave, to help the attackers make up their mind. Those who were still standing, turned and fled.  
  
"Well, that went well!" Daniel said, then noticed O'Neill was still unconscious. "Jack!" He stumbled over to check on him.  
  
Jolinar got there first, checking he had not hurt himself when he fell. "He seems to be unharmed. He will recover from the zat'nik'tel shot shortly. We should be ready to leave as soon as he does."  
  
"You think those guys will come back?" Daniel wondered.   
  
"Unlikely," Teal'c said.  
  
"I agree, but we cannot afford any suspicion, and they may tell others that one of us used a hand device."  
  
"Wouldn't that just scare any other attackers off? I mean, they'd think you’re a Goa'uld wouldn't they?" Daniel mused.   
  
"They would, and most would be too afraid to attack us, but perhaps not everyone, and there are some types of interest we do not want. Ah, O'Neill is coming to. Get dressed, and we will leave as soon as possible. It is most fortunate they did not attack until now. Gehlak would have our goods ready at noon today, and that is only seven hours away."  
  


* * *

They spent the remaining hours until they could pick up their supplies wandering around in the streets, except for a short visit to a small eatery. They were very much on guard, but nothing suspicious happened, and when it was finally noon, they went to Gehlak and got their goods, and hired carriers and herders to help with the transportation.  
  
Since no one could be allowed to know the address to the Beta site, the workers would be bringing the food and animals to a stopover world Jolinar had picked since it was uninhabited.  
  
Daniel watched the last of the workers disappear into the wormhole, which soon closed after him.  
  
"Okay, Teal'c, you stay here with Carter and Jolinar, while Daniel and I go and see if we can convince the idiots back home to send some people to get this stuff. With our luck, they'll probably throw us in jail and refuse to go here, thinking it's a trap!" O’Neill grumbled.   
  
"That would be most unfortunate," Teal'c observed.  
  
"No kidding!" O'Neill sighed. "Let's hope we can find Hammond before anyone else gets a hold of us -  _he'll_ listen. Come, Daniel."  
  
"Coming."  
  
"O'Neill. Please return with expedience, and kindly bring armed guards in addition to the carriers. The address of this world is known, as is the fact that we went here with many valuable goods and few guards. Do not forget, we have already been attacked once, and we did not kill all of them," Jolinar warned. "Teal'c and I cannot long hold them off, should a larger force attack."  
  
"Yeah, I got that. Believe me, I'll try!" He gave the large cow he was bringing with him for added emphasis a whack, and through the Stargate they went.  
  


* * *

Sam looked worriedly towards the Stargate as soon as she heard it activating. It had been several hours and she was very concerned it might be someone who came to attack them. Looking to Teal'c, she saw that he was as much on edge as she was, and she gave Jolinar control, hoping the symbiote would be able to use the hand device to better effect than Sam could use the zat'nik'tel they also had.  
  
She felt incredibly relieved when she recognized the first man through as Colonel O'Neill, quickly followed by Daniel, and then lots of other people from the Beta site. It was mostly soldiers, but others also followed when O'Neill had radioed that all was clear.  
  
Jolinar gave control back to Sam, who smiled at her superior. "You certainly took your time, sir."  
  
"Yeah, unfortunately, they weren't very willing to listen to me and Daniel, but Hammond managed to get them convinced we were telling the truth and it was worth it to send someone to see if we actually brought food." He grinned. "They're getting pretty desperate, you know - they were practically drooling when they saw the poor cow we dragged through the 'gate. They still had Doctor Fraiser check us for Goa'uld infestation, though..." He shook his head.  
  
"Guards - take control of the Goa'uld!" Colonel Samuels yelled, having just come through the Stargate, after O'Neill had reported back that there was no danger.  
  
"Oh, come on, man! She's not a Goa'uld - even  _you_ must know by now that the Tok'ra are different! She's just helped us get all this food - can't you be a little grateful, for god's sake?" O'Neill exclaimed.  
  
"Have you considered she's not doing it for  _our_ sake? Not only does she want to eat too, but she may have other, ulterior motives for trying to ingratiate herself with us," Samuels insisted.  
  
"Jolinar could have left any time she wanted. The only thing stopping her was her word, and the wish of her host to return to her sick father," Teal'c said, attempting to control his anger.  
  
"Yeah, she’s got a hand device," Daniel added.  
  
"A  _hand device_! Where you really insane enough to give the Goa'uld a weapon? And not just  _any_ weapon, but something as dangerous as a hand device?" Samuels spat.  
  
"She saved our lives with it!" Daniel exclaimed.  
  
Sam sighed. "It's okay." She threw the hand device and the zat'nik'tel to O'Neill who was standing nearby. "We surrender - but please make sure Hammond hears about this," she said to her team members. "I'm sure he'll be interested - and the rest of the colony would probably want more food at some point, and I doubt Jolinar will want to help if  _this_ is the thanks she gets. I know  _I_ won't as much as  _consider_ it, as long as  _you_ have anything to say!"  
  
The guards looked first at Samuels, then at Sam, then at O'Neill, clearly unsure what to do.  
  
"Take her!" Samuels ordered.  
  
Sam shrugged and followed the guards through the Stargate back to the Beta site, while the others started moving all the food and animals through after them.  
  


* * *

O'Neill, Daniel, and Teal'c had gone straight to Hammond after returning, and he had promised to talk to the Council.  
  
Daniel looked at the watch. Hammond had been in there for almost two hours.  
  
"What's keeping them?" O'Neill sounded irritated. "How hard can it be! We would have starved in less than a week, if Carter and Jolinar hadn't come through for us!"  
  
Just then, the door opened and Hammond came out, looking tired, but pleased.  
  
"Well?" O'Neill asked.  
  
"They're not completely convinced, not all of them, but enough of them have enough doubt that they've agreed to hear Jolinar. She’ll stand before the Council tomorrow and answer their questions and try to convince them she’s not Goa'uld."  
  
"It's something, I guess." O’Neill admitted, reluctantly.  
  



	14. Progress

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam - and Jolinar - are finally allowed to talk to Jacob.

_September 21 1998, Beta site_  
  
Next day, just before noon, Jolinar was called to the Council's meeting room. She now stood before them, looking calmly at them. She did not wear handcuffs - a concession Hammond had managed to get for her - but two guards stood at her sides. Daniel sat in a chair off to the side, having been allowed in as well, in order to assist her.  
  
"So...  _Jolinar_ ... you claim not to be a Goa'uld, despite all evidence to the contrary. Tell me, why should we believe you?" Kinsey said.  
  
Jolinar flashed her eyes. "I do not claim not to be  _biologically_ Goa'uld - that would be foolish. I do, however, claim not to share the philosophy and ideology of the majority of my species. That is what makes me  _Tok'ra_ \- against Ra, and all the other System Lords."  
  
"That all sounds very good, but we have only met or heard of Goa'uld who were evil and power-hungry, why would you be different? And more importantly, how do you  _prove_ this?" Samuels asked.  
  
"There exists evil humans, correct?"  
  
"Of course. What's that got to do with anything?"  
  
"So, since some humans are evil, all humans must be evil, since they are the same species. That is what you are saying."  
  
"That's ridiculous! Stop wasting our time!" Samuels snarled.   
  
"I am not. I am proving a point. Obviously it is false - not all humans are evil, just because some are. Is it then so impossible for you to believe that there could be some beings - who are the same species as the Goa'uld - who are  _not_ evil?" Jolinar asked.   
  
"Perhaps. Anyway, assuming these 'good Goa'uld', these 'Tok'ra', actually exist - how do we know you're one of them? How do we know you're not just trying to trick us in order to save yourself?" Kinsey suggested.   
  
"You are fools!" Jolinar scoffed. "If  _that_ was all I wanted, then I would not be here! I could have sabotaged your precious Stargate Command before Apophis arrived. I could have killed all of SG-1 and fled, using the treasure - and knowledge of your location - to pay my way to a position with a System Lord! Yes, I had a weapon, but I did not use it. I do not kill anyone without a reason, and not those who would be my friends. I would no more sell out your people to the Goa'uld, than I would my own - not because I have any love for your particular group, but because most of your subjects are innocents. Instead, I choose to help, bringing you food in your need."  
  
"So we should be grateful, is that what you're saying? You  _obviously_ share many traits with the Goa'uld - you're arrogant and you've got quite a superiority complex going," Kinsey remarked, scornful.  
  
Jolinar controlled herself with difficulty. "I have no wish for your gratitude! I returned because my host wishes to see her father before he dies, and I have even brought a healing device, with which I hope to prolong his life and ease his suffering. My people could do much more - both for him and for all of you, if you would but see reason, and let me go to them! We could help you create sanitary facilities and lessen the pressure on the river, for instance! Help you better hide from the Goa'uld! Seeing how things are going here, you  _obviously_ need our help!"  
  
"Stop treating us like we're children or animals! Admit it! You consider us inferior,  _animals_!"  
  
"No. Animals do not foul their home and their water supply!" Jolinar snorted.  
  
Daniel jumped up from his chair. "Whoa - perhaps... perhaps it's time for a recess?"  
  


* * *

After a break, they all returned to the Council chamber again, and Jolinar was again questioned.  
  
"And we're to believe you don't have any more information for us about Apophis? Didn't you say your people fought the Goa'uld by infiltration? You'd have to get a  _lot_ of intel that way," Kinsey said.   
  
"I have been away from my people for a long time, as I have repeatedly pointed out to the...  _gentlemen_ who interrogated me over the past months. I have already given you what meager intelligence about Apophis I had. Everything which would be of any use to you."  
  
"You need to go to the Tok'ra for both intel and tech. You can't give us  _any_ help without contacting your people, don't you think that sounds just a  _bit_ suspicious?" Samuels snorted.   
  
"No. It is a fact. I  _can_ give you some advice, though. Do not keep everyone at one base - if anyone learns its coordinates, you could all be wiped out at once. Also, your teams should never go directly here upon returning from a mission, but should utilize a 'safe world' for a stop-over. That way no one following them will learn of the address here."  
  
"No one will get the location! Our people are careful not to let anyone see the glyphs when they dial, and they're trained not to give up anything under torture," Samuels insisted with indignation.   
  
Jolinar scoffed. "Not just your soldiers go to other planets - you sent civilians to help carry the food we brought. The address of that world was not a secret, and someone could have arrived and killed Teal'c and me while we waited, then stayed to kill or capture your people when they came for their supplies. Even if none of your civilians are ever captured, some of your soldiers  _will_ be. It is only a matter of time."  
  
"I'll admit sending civilians off world might have been an oversight, but we’re careful when it’s done, and it may be necessary. I don't believe there was any danger they would be caught by anyone who would wish to attack us. As for the soldiers - as I said, they won't speak, even under torture." Samuels looked confident.   
  
"No one knows that until they are caught, and the Goa'uld are  _very_ good at making people talk. They do not have to worry about killing the prisoners, because they have sarcophagi, with which they can heal and bring back someone, even from death. You  _know_ this. An unblended human can  _always_ be made to tell their secrets."  
  
"But Tok'ra cannot? Stop bragging!"  
  
"You forget. The Goa'uld can do something to unblended humans they cannot do to Tok'ra. They can make an unblended human a host to a symbiote, who can then  _take_ any knowledge they want from their mind.  _No_ human can stop a symbiote from doing that, regardless of training. It is a regrettable fact, but it simply cannot be done."  
  
The members of the Council stared at her for a few moments, as they seemed to understand what she told them.  
  
"Okay. Granted. You would know, I guess," Samuels said.  
  
"Yes, I would.” Jolinar took a deep breath. “It is safer to have several bases. The Tok'ra would never put everyone on the same. It is foolish. There are other advantages. If you are fewer people on each base world, you will be less visible - and you will lessen the pressure on the river."  
  
"If we contacted your people, what would it take to get them to help? Would they want something in return?" Kinsey asked, looking suspicious.   
  
"You have little to offer, except hosts, that is true. However, you can provide people for some of our missions, which require human slaves, or just backup. Aside from that, perhaps there are people here who might be interested in volunteering as hosts?"  
  
" _Hosts_! Are you crazy?" He shuddered at the thought.  
  
"Not at all. You currently do not have as advanced a medical system as you did on your homeworld. People will get wounded or sick, and becoming a host may save their life. It is something you should consider," Jolinar said.  
  
The Council members looked at each other, not liking the idea, but some of them had to admit it was possible.  
  
The meeting continued for some time longer, with at least a few of the members of the Council starting to not only believe Jolinar was a Tok'ra, but also that she might be speaking the truth.   
  
A decision was finally made; they would divide their people over ten bases, and Jolinar was to be released - with conditions. She would no longer be in a holding cell, nor would she be interrogated or experimented on, but she would still be guarded. She got her own quarters, which was more than most of the people had - even if her quarters had a guard outside. She was allowed to move relatively freely on the base, as long as a guard followed her. While not perfect, it was a huge improvement.  
  


* * *

*Would you like to go and visit your father?* Jolinar asked.  
  
*Yes, I would... I’m just...  _worried_ how he'll react.*  
  
*Because of me.*  
  
*Yes. I'm sorry, but I really don't know how he'll react. Hell, he might yell at me even without you - we don't always get along, though it's much better now than it was some years ago. And much better than how it is between my brother and my dad.* Sam slowly shook her head. *I guess you'd say we're a bit dysfunctional.*  
  
*I do not know the background for your quarrel, but I do know you are very fond of your father, and that you worry for him. You have a chance to make up for whatever problem is between you. You should go to him.*  
  
*You're right.*  
  
*Take the healing device. We do not know how sick he is, but I may be able to help him some, at least temporarily.*  
  


* * *

"Hi, Dad," Sam said, as she stuck her head inside his room, feeling anxious.  
  
He looked up from the papers he was reading, while eating what looked like mashed potatoes and beef, with gravy. He put down the fork and pushed away both the papers and the plate when he saw who it was. "Sam! Come in!" He looked surprised, then got an apprehensive expression. "Ah, you still have that Goa'uld inside you, right?"  
  
"Yeah, Dad, I do... and she's Tok'ra, not Goa'uld. Her name is Jolinar - but I'm sure some one's already told you all that." She frowned, looking worriedly at him. He was pale, and he had gotten quite thin. He did not look well at all - he was even slumping a little in his chair, something he otherwise never did.  
  
He nodded, sitting up straighter. "Yes, George told me, but it's still too strange to think that you've got an alien in your head - even one he claims is a good guy."  
  
"She really is - and don't talk to me about strange, though I'm starting to like her. It's nice always having someone to talk to - though I admit we can drive each other crazy from time to time." Sam laughed a little.  
  
"That almost sounds like marriage to me," Jacob said. He sighed, looking tired. "Sit down. You can stay for a while, right?"  
  
"Of course. Right now I don't really have any duties. They still don't trust me, not completely, but I'm not locked up anymore - which is a step up from being treated as a reviled representative of those that conquered Earth." Sam smiled wryly.  
  
"It is." He looked at her again, as if he was trying to determine if she really  _was_ Sam, and not the symbiote.  
  
Sam nodded at the plate with the almost-finished meal. "I see you've got something different than the MRE's."  
  
"Yeah, it's nice. The mashed potatoes taste a bit different, but it's not too bad. I'd gotten pretty tired of the MRE's, as I'd imagine all of us have." He looked at her, getting a friendlier expression. "George told me - it was...  _Jolinar_ who got us this food."  
  
"She did, yes."  
  
"I'm grateful to her for  _that_ , at least."  
  
"Dad - I'm not suffering. I told you, we're actually starting to get along very well."  
  
"Okay." He got an expression as if he did not believe her.  
  
Sam sighed deeply. Neither she nor Jolinar had expected this to be easy. Her father was a very stubborn man. "Perhaps you'd like to meet her?"  
  
"Ah..." He was quiet, then apparently made a decision. "Sure, why not?"  
  
"Great, thanks, Dad." Sam smiled, relieved. She bowed her head, giving Jolinar control.  
  
"Greetings, sir. It is an honour meeting you." Jolinar bowed her head respectfully.  
  
Jacob jumped a little at the flanged voice coming from his daughters mouth, but quickly recovered. He had been told they spoke like that, but actually hearing it - and coming from Sam's mouth - was quite different. "Um, hello, Jolinar."  
  
"I deeply apologize for the problems I have caused for your daughter, by... taking her as my host. It happened as a result of a misunderstanding, and I assure you I will leave her as soon as it is possible."  
  
"That's... that's good." Suddenly, Jacob noticed that except for a small stump, the little finger was missing from her right hand. "What happened to your finger?"  
  
Jolinar looked at the hand and sighed. She had started to fix it, but the finger had only just begun to regrow. "Some unpleasant people who were interested in the healing abilities of my species caused that. Sir, I promise you that I will repair the damage to my Sam's hand. It will take some time to regrow the finger, especially since I am somewhat weakened, but I expect the finger to be regrown in at most a few weeks."  
  
"George told me they'd been interrogating you, but he didn't tell me they'd done things like this!" Jacob said angrily. "Someone is going to pay for this!"  
  
"I have been assured it will not happen again. For now, that is enough."  
  
"I can't be so forgiving." He frowned. "You can regrow a finger? Really?"  
  
"Quite easily, actually. Such damage takes longer to repair than injuries where bones do not need to be regrown, of course. We can also cure almost all diseases, and are immune to most poisons."  
  
"Impressive! Even cancer?"  
  
"Yes, it is usually very easy, as long as it has not progressed too far."  
  
"Hmm..." Jacob looked thoughtful.  
  
"A symbiote really could cure you," Jolinar said, then sighed. "Forgive me, but Sam seems to believe you will not like me asking, but... how are you doing, sir?"  
  
"She's right." He straightened. "I'm not dead yet. They're not getting rid of me that easily!"  
  
"Of course not, sir," Jolinar agreed, taking the healing device she had brought, from her belt. "This is used for healing by my kind. It works very well on any kind of injuries, as long as they are not too severe. It cannot cure your cancer, though, but it may heal some of the damage in your body, and strengthen you. Will you allow me to use it on you?"  
  


* * *

Jolinar had used the healing device on Jacob, and while she could not cure him, he felt significantly better and stronger afterwards. This was of course something that made Jacob much more positive and friendly towards Jolinar, and Sam was happy - both about his friendlier attitude, and naturally that her father was feeling better. They agreed that Sam and Jolinar would return to visit later that week, and that they would bring the healing device again.  
  
The Council had decided they really did agree with Jolinar's recommendation to split the colony up across a number of bases, and teams were sent out to find suitable base planets. Jolinar knew of a number of planets which might suit them, and which were uninhabited. She explained that sharing a planet with others was of course possible, but that it might put the local population in danger, should the Goa'uld choose to attack the Tau'ri, and was thus not something she thought they should do.  
  
Of course, much work had been put into building housing on the planet they were on, but since people were living in very close quarters - most sleeping 12 people in the same room - everyone was interested in slowly building bases on other worlds and moving some of the people there. It would also, as Jolinar had pointed out, put less pressure on the river and the environment around the base in general.  
  
She had repeated her offer of going to the Tok'ra, to see if they would agree to help, and provide what was necessary to construct bathing and other sanitary facilities. Since it would be simple to do - using specially constructed tunnel crystals for most of the work - it was likely the Tok'ra would agree to help, even if they were  _not_ interested in an alliance.   
  
Kinsey and his Council did not reject the idea outright this time, but put off the decision for the time being.


	15. An Attack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After one team are seen when they gate back to base, they come under attack and have to flee again. Jolinar is allowed to go look for the Tok'ra - together with SG-1.

_September 30 1998, Beta site_  
  
After only a little over a week’s hard work, nine possible base worlds had been chosen, making it a total of ten bases, with the Beta site included.   
  
The Council was by now convinced Jolinar had been correct when she said it was a security risk for them all to be on the same world, and they had decided to be the first to move to another world. They felt safer being on a world which had not potentially been 'compromised' when ‘untrusted’ civilians knowing the coordinates had been offworld. Indeed, when all their people knew the coordinates, and some of them had gone to places they could have been caught and forced to talk.   
  
The Council chose a base which only few knew the address for, and then hand picked groups of people that were sent there to build housing and prepare everything. Guards were also chosen, which would live on that base, and protect the Council. It was all explained as being necessary, since the Council was the ruling body of the 'Free Earth' as the colony had started to call itself, and thus too important to risk.  
  
A guard still followed Sam/Jolinar around, but he rarely interfered in where they went or what they did, so they usually ignored him completely. Jolinar had healed Jacob twice this week, and he was still better than he had been before she started doing so, but there was no doubt that it was a losing battle, and that blending with a symbiote was probably the only thing that would save him. While Jacob had mostly accepted Jolinar, and was no longer afraid of her, he was also still a long way from agreeing to become a host.  
  
Of course, even if he had  _wanted_ to be a host, that was currently not an option, as Jolinar had not yet received permission to contact the rest of the Tok'ra, and thus there was no symbiote to blend with Jacob. True, Sam still was not sure she wanted to remain Jolinar's host, but after all that had happened, it would probably be months before Jolinar was strong enough to leave her, so that was also not an option, even if Jolinar would have agreed to take a male host.  
  
Sam and Jolinar were just returning to their quarters after visiting Jacob and healing him again, when they heard the sound of the Stargate activating. It was immediately followed by the call to the guards, that they were to be ready if their visitors turned out to be hostile. Sam and Jolinar tensed for a few moments, but when no sounds of shooting followed, they relaxed and continued on their way. It was probably just one of the scouting teams that returned.  
  
They had barely taken another step, when they heard the shout for 'medic', and Sam, who was currently in control, stopped.  
  
*Jolinar, we still have the healing device. I know you are weary, but do you think you have the strength to help? We have so few medical supplies left, so any help at all could mean the difference between life and death.*  
  
*Of course. I will do my best,* Jolinar promised.  
  
They turned and ran the short distance to the Stargate. Turning a corner of the building just in front of it, allowed them see what had happened; SG-5 had returned from their survey mission to P3X-728, and had obviously been attacked. Lieutenant Barber and Major Harper had just stumbled through the Stargate, carrying Major Altman, who was obviously unconscious and in a bad shape. No one else came through the Stargate.  
  
"Where's Jenkins!" Ferretti demanded.  
  
"He didn't make it, sir," Barber gasped, as he and Harper carefully lowered Altman to the ground. "It was Apophis's Jaffa. They were everywhere, sir."  
  
"We barely made it out." Harper almost collapsed on the ground, just as the Stargate activated again, the 'kawoosh' thankfully not hitting anyone.  
  
"Get the wounded out of here! Take defensive positions!" Ferretti shouted.  
  
Sam and Jolinar still stood at the corner of the building, and now watched as the soldiers ran to obey.  
  
*The Jaffa - or whomever attacked the team - must have seen the address. This is bad!* Jolinar remarked.  
  
*No shit!* Sam sounded sarcastic. *Let's go see if we can help SG-5 while the others - hopefully - fight them off. There's little else we can do.*  
  
*Your team must not have gone to a stop-over world first, but have gone directly here, or that would not have happened. Why did they not follow this protocol?*  
  
*I believe they have been told to do so, whenever it's reasonably possible. However, if they're being shot at, or are wounded, they may have deemed it important to get back quickly. Or they may simply have fallen back to how things used to be done, when they were going back to Earth. If it's a panicky situation, such things happen. Have  _you_ never done something when things were hectic and you didn't have time to think it through? Hmm?*  
  
*You know I have, or you would not currently be my host.* Jolinar sighed. *However, I would  _never_ do something that jeopardized my entire base, which is what SG-5 have done. Yes, I understand the concept of 'errare humanum est', and it applies just as well to symbiotes as to humans, but there are times when the price of erring is simply too high. It  _must_ not happen!* She repeated, as they heard the explosions from the mines in front of the Stargate going off, followed by weapons fire. So they were truly under attack.  
  
Jolinar hurried to the infirmary, where the wounded had now been taken. Altman was lying on an examination table, still unconscious. Janet was examining him and shouting orders to the nurses, while Harper was lying on another bed, waiting for his turn. Another doctor came over to him moments later.  
  
Barber was well enough to be out and helping with the defense. Jolinar and Sam both knew it was only a matter of time before there would be several more patients.  
  
"Excuse me, I would like to offer my assistance," Jolinar said, holding up her healing device. "I have this, which should work quite well on wounds such as those from a staff blast."  
  
Janet looked at her for a moment, thinking it over, then nodded. "Please, try. There is next to nothing I can do for this poor man, with the equipment we have." She stepped aside, letting Jolinar have some space, but did not go further away than she could keep an eye on what the Tok'ra was going to do.  
  
Jolinar concentrated and began examining and healing the wound with the healing device.  
  


* * *

It was much later when a completely exhausted Sam and Jolinar stumbled back to their quarters, hoping to catch a few hours of sleep. Jolinar had saved Altman's life, then continued healing Harper, only to be interrupted by a flood of other wounded coming in, all with staff blast wounds. Janet and the other doctors and nurses worked on those in less critical condition, while Jolinar took those who were the most serious, healing their wounds as best she could, until the patients were well enough that the human healers could take over. They had all worked for hours, but had only lost one patient, out of the twenty-one that had been admitted in conjunction with the attack.  
  
The Stargate had shut down, and the Tau'ri had managed to dial out quickly enough that Apophis's men had not been able to come through. They had kept trying, though, and another attack-force had come through a couple hours later. Now the Tau'ri were vigilant, dialling out as soon as their gate shut down, working to ship people and supplies through.   
  
The Beta site had almost become their home, and while few had their own quarters, they all did have a roof over their heads. Now they had to move to one of the newly chosen base worlds, much quicker than anticipated, and start over. It was a wearying thought, and it would mean another few months in tents and makeshift quarters, before enough buildings could be constructed for everyone.  
  
Sam and Jolinar were too tired to care about the danger, and barely spent a minute thinking about whether or not another attack would be called before they woke up. There were a great many people and many resources to move, so it would take many days before all was completed, at any rate.  
  


* * *

_October 04 1998, Gamma site / New Earth and Primo._  
  
It was only a few days later, when Sam and Jolinar were called in front of the Council. It was now installed on a new base world, the address of which was held secret from almost everyone, including Sam and Jolinar, who had been forced to wear a hood while going through the Stargate.   
  
Most people, equipment, and supplies, as well as the farm animals, had by now been moved away from the Beta site, and divided up among the nine worlds chosen for bases. Another base planet would be found as soon as possible, to make it the ten worlds that had been decided on. As well, other potential base worlds would be picked, for any future evacuations that might become necessary.  
  
One of the bases held fewer people, namely the one the Council resided on, though it had many more guards than the others. It was already sparsely populated when the Tau’ri arrived, and was called Primo by the locals.   
  
Another one of the bases was bigger than the others, having been picked as the main one. The world it was on was first going to just be called the 'Gamma site', but then it was decided that it might help raise the moral, if it was called 'New Earth', so that was what it became named.  
  
The hood was finally removed from the head of Sam and Jolinar, and they were told to sit in the small, newly constructed waiting room.  
  
*This is ridiculous!* Jolinar complained. *We were lead through the chaapa'ai with a hood on - all right, in order to not allow us to see the address here - but why would they keep the hood on us until we were inside? Are they hiding something?*  
  
*Maybe, it wouldn't surprise me, but most likely it's just their idiotic idea of extra security - too little, too late, and if at all possible in the wrong area, so it will annoy as many people as much as possible, without doing anything to improve safety. Typical!*   
  
They did not have to wait for long before a young man arrived to tell them that the Council was ready to receive them, and they followed him into a relatively spacious room, furnished with a large table and several nice, fairly comfortable chairs.  
  
*How come  _they_ get to have all this, when everyone else sleeps in tents?* Sam grumbled, not really expecting an answer.  
  
"Welcome, Jolinar... and Major Carter," Samuels greeted.  
  
*Is that a General's star I'm spotting on his shoulders?* Sam observed, outraged.  
  
*I believe so. Someone must have decided to promote him. I wonder what for? Torturing us?*  
  
*To quote Colonel O'Neill - talk about  _failing upwards_.*  
  
"Greetings, what do you want from me?" Jolinar demanded.  
  
"Jolinar - you look healthy, if somewhat tired, and I see your hand is healing well. I am pleased," Doctor Nichols said, leering at her.  
  
*Nichols! Jolinar, how can they let him in here!* Sam groaned, feeling distressed. *I can't have him in here!* She threw a look at her little finger. It was almost fully regrown, but still a little shorter and thinner than before, and without a nail. Another week or so, and it would be back to normal, Jolinar had promised.  
  
*Agreed.* Jolinar ignored Nichols completely, looking instead towards Samuels and Kinsey. "Samuels - or Kinsey, or whomever claims ownership of  _that_. Remove your dog, or I am leaving.  _Now_."  
  
"Now, now... relax, miss, he's just asking about your health," Kinsey said, affably.  
  
"Either he goes - or I do. Your choice. He distresses my host, and I am not fond of his presence either."  
  
Kinsey shrugged. "All right, we are trying to be friendly here. Doctor Nichols, if you'd please wait outside."  
  
"Sir! I was told I would be allowed to check on the health of her. It is important for our research!" Nichols complained.  
  
"I will have to ask you to leave," Samuels said, apologetically.  
  
Complaining loudly, Nichols left.  
  
Jolinar took a deep breath. "The air suddenly seems better, though there is still something in here that stinks." She sighed. "That is for later. I repeat. What do you wish of me?"   
  
"You mentioned that your people, the Tok'ra, might be persuaded to assist us,  _ally_ with us, perhaps even. Is that still the case?” Samuels asked.   
  
"You currently have little to offer in an alliance, but the Tok'ra might help a friendly race in need. It all depends...  _are_ you a friendly race?"  
  
"Of course! How  _dare_ you insinuate otherwise! You say the Tok'ra fight the Goa'uld - so do we! That should be enough for them to want to help us. Maybe even give us some weapons and technology!" Kinsey exclaimed.   
  
"Perhaps, but it is always risky to disclose your location. If you wish for more than emergency aid, you will have to offer something in return, to make it worth the risk."  
  
"Such as?" Samuels asked.   
  
"Hosts. You have nothing else right now."  
  
" _Hosts_?" Samuels and Kinsey looked at each other. "I doubt that would be easy. It's not like there would be a lot of people volunteering, but perhaps... you say you can cure most diseases, and heal many injuries?" Samuels looked wary.   
  
"We can, yes."  
  
"Then that might be a possibility, but you can't expect us to negotiate with you. You're not a member of their government, are you?" Kinsey said, slowly.   
  
"I am not a member of the Tok'ra High Council, no. Does this mean you will allow me to go and look for my people?"  
  
Kinsey and a few of the others nodded. "We may do that, yes, but not alone. You will bring a couple SG teams with you."  
  
" _That_ is unacceptable!"  
  
"We are not going to let you leave on your own!" Samuels exclaimed.   
  
"The Tok'ra will not take kindly to a large, unknown, and potentially hostile force. If it is necessary I can take SG-1."  
  
"We will have to discuss it. Please wait outside," Kinsey told her.   
  


* * *

The decision had eventually been made to allow Sam/Jolinar to go and look for the Tok'ra together with SG-1. They would be leaving in a few days, when the evacuation was complete.   
  
While everyone and everything had now been moved away from the Beta site, all the stuff had just been taken to  _one_ world, in order to get it done quickly. Right now, everyone was needed to help divide things and people between the new base worlds, and to start building housing.  
  
O'Neill had been promoted to commander of the largest of the bases, New Earth, so he could not leave until work was started on building and organising there. Since Jolinar insisted she would only accept SG-1’s company - and the Council would not let her go alone - they had to wait.  
  
Meanwhile, Jolinar and Sam helped out where they could, mostly by healing some of the wounded. Hopefully, the mission would go well, and they would get some help from the Tok'ra, even if Kinsey and his Council had not made any final decisions on whether or not it would be possible to offer hosts.   
  
Each of the base worlds would need bathing and other sanitary installations, and that was one of the things they hoped the Tok'ra would help with.  
  
If, for some reason, that did not work out - either because the Tok'ra were no longer in any of the bases Jolinar expected them to be in, or because they would not agree to help - then Jolinar knew some places where they could go and buy equipment that would help somewhat with the sanitation problem, and so lessen the pressure on the rivers, even if it would be neither as advanced, or as easy to build, as what they could get from the Tok'ra.


	16. Searching for the Tok’ra

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SG-1 and Jolinar go look for the Tok'ra, but find the world they arrive on under Goa'uld attack and empty, aside from the dead and dying. 
> 
> Warning: minor violence

_October 08 1998, New Earth_  
  
It was finally time for SG-1 to go and attempt to contact the Tok'ra. Jolinar was getting very nervous that they had already moved - or worse, that they had been killed by attacks from the System Lords, since the spy was still in position.  
  
They did not know how long they would be gone. Jolinar suspected they might be detained by the Tok'ra for some time, so she and Sam had gone to see Jacob before leaving, and Jolinar had healed him again. Sam was getting fairly worried for him, even though he insisted he was well enough. However, when Jolinar had again breached the subject of blending with a Tok'ra symbiote, he had not dismissed it out of hand, as he had the other times.   
  
He had apparently spent some time thinking about it, and the fact that he was getting used to Jolinar also helped. In fact, many people were starting to look kindly on her, after she had not only brought them food, but had also helped heal many of those who had been wounded during Apophis's most recent attack.  
  
Sam and Jolinar currently stood near the local Stargate, waiting for the rest of SG-1 to show up. Or rather, the rest of the  _original_ SG-1, because with Sam on long-time leave because of Jolinar, and O'Neill promoted to base commander, SG-1 was no longer an active unit.  
  
*It actually sounded like my Dad is considering becoming a host - if there is a Tok'ra symbiote available, who would agree to blend with him,* Sam observed, still quite astonished.  
  
*Yes, it does. I was somewhat surprised as well.*  
  
*Do you think it will happen? I mean, do you think anyone will want him as host? They won't say no because he's, ah, older than most when they become hosts? Or because he's so sick?*  
  
*No. A reasonably healthy symbiote should not have too much of a problem healing him, since we have treated him regularly with the healing device. If there is a symbiote available soon, that is. As for his age? Tok'ra do not only take young, handsome hosts, like the Goa'uld do, even though there are missions where such a host is a requirement, of course. There are many positions within our movement that can be handled by anyone, and your father is not  _that_ old. With a symbiote, he would become quite strong and healthy again, and should be able to live for another couple hundred years. We regularly have hosts who are as old as your father, or older, when they become hosts, though I must admit the majority are younger - also because of the relatively short lifespans on many of the worlds our hosts come from.*  
  
*Of course, many of them are from Goa'uld slave worlds, so they probably don't live very long.* Sam felt sorry for all those people out there, then realized that the people of Earth would be in much the same situation now.  
  
This was something she had not thought much about for the past months, since she had had her own problems to deal with. Now she realized what the rest of the people on the colony must have thought of often during their exile - Earth, as she knew it, was no more. Her people were slaves to Apophis.  
  
Jolinar 'hugged' her. *From what I have seen, your people are strong, and they will persevere. You and your group escaped, and you will survive - and one day take back your world.*  
  
*I hope so, Jolinar. I really, really hope so. I think we'd have a hell of a lot better chance if we ally with your people, but to be honest, we don't exactly have a lot to offer - except hosts, which I'm not even sure the Council will accept. Our Council, I mean. The Tok'ra have a Council too, don't they?*  
  
*They do. Just to make things confusing for us, my Sam.* Jolinar sounded amused.  
  
"Ah, there you are! Ready to leave, Carter? Jolinar?" O'Neill greeted as he walked towards them.  
  
Jolinar gave Sam control, and she greeted her commanding officer. "Colonel." She smiled. "Yeah, I think we're ready. Jolinar is a bit nervous, and frankly, so am I, but I think we'd both like to get it over with."  
  
"Hi, Sam!" Daniel waved.  
  
"Captain Carter." Teal'c inclined his head to her.  
  
"Hi, Daniel, Teal'c." Sam's smile grew. "It's nice to go on a trip with you guys again."  
  
"Yeah, just like old times." O'Neill grinned. "Ready, guys?"  
  


* * *

Jolinar had dialled an address for a stop-over world first, and as soon as they had gone through, and the wormhole had closed down behind them, she inputting the glyphs for the world her Tok'ra base was currently stationed at. The fact that the rest of SG-1 would now know the address to this base might very well mean they would be kept at that base, until the Tok'ra moved to a new planet. She had told them that, but they had said they were willing to risk it, and were ready to step through the wormhole to the Tok'ra base world.  
  
Taking a deep breath, Jolinar walked through the Stargate.  
  
And into a world in chaos. A death glider whined over her head, and she threw herself to the ground behind the only cover available nearby, which happened to be the dialling device. "Get down! Take cover!" Jolinar yelled at O'Neill, Daniel, and Teal'c who stepped through just after her.  
  
She glanced around, spotting clear evidence of a fairly sustained bombardment. There were craters everywhere - one of which Sam's team mates were currently using to hide in. She saw one downed death glider, and several dead or unconscious Jaffa scattered near the Stargate, as well as two immobile Tok'ra, presumably dead as well. One of them were close enough to reach, and she quickly checked. Dead. It was Toven/Rillek, and she noted absently that the other one, further away, was Siska/Katthara. She had known both of them, though not very well. Regardless, any mourning was for later. She clamped down on her feelings before they could affect Sam as well.  
  
"Could anyone here be alive?" O'Neill shouted from his cover.  
  
"Unlikely. Since there are dead Tok'ra on the surface, I would assume the evacuation was underway. The tunnels will have been destroyed by now," Jolinar yelled back, pulling out her zat'nik'tel and firing thrice at the nearest Tok'ra.  
  
*Why are you doing that?!* Sam asked, astonished and appalled. *Wasn't he a Tok'ra, like you?*  
  
*Yes, and if the Jaffa take him to their master, there may very well still be time to revive him in the sarcophagus - so he can be tortured endlessly, until he goes mad and/or betrays all he holds dear.*  
  
*Oh,* Sam answered, softly, understanding.  
  
"Okay. Jolinar - dial out as soon as possible!" He ordered, frowning at what she had just done. Well, explanations could wait until later.   
  
"Understood. That  _was_ my intention!" She quickly fired at the Tok'ra further away, disintegrating her as well.  
  
That was when she heard someone moan close by, and she became aware of a weak energy signature in that direction. Someone was still alive, but was it a Tok'ra or a Jaffa?  
  
"Jo... olinar?" The voice asked. "Is it really... you?"  
  
Jolinar felt a shock go through her. "Selmak?" She glanced in the direction of the deathgliders, which had now turned and would be coming in for another pass in a moment, then back towards where she sensed the symbiote.  
  
"It is me, old... friend," Selmak gasped.  
  
Jolinar noticed a bit of clothing showing, perhaps from someone mostly buried under the sand, and she was just about to see if she could reach the other Tok'ra to help her, when the Stargate shut down, and Jolinar threw herself at the dialling device, entering the address of a safe world as fast as she could.  
  
She slammed her hand down against the red center button, and the Stargate activated, the wormhole flushing out, then stabilizing. "I opened it. Go, go!" Jolinar yelled, throwing a worried looking at the deathgliders closing in on them. *Sam?* She queried, wanting to know if Sam was alright with Jolinar attempting to get the other Tok'ra with them.  
  
*Yes, of course. Save her if you can!*  
  
Jolinar dashed out from the marginally safer position by the dialling device and ran for the place where Selmak was hiding, partially buried in the sand. Selmak tried to get up from the hole, but she was too weak, only succeeding in reaching out with her hands. Jolinar grabbed them and pulled her up, then realized Selmak was unable to stand.  
  
"Jolinar, do not... do not risk your life.  _Leave_ me."  
  
"Never!" Jolinar promised.  
  
"What's keeping you!" O'Neill shouted, from his place just beside the Stargate. He ducked as one of the deathgliders flew low and started firing at them, thankfully not hitting anyone. " _Damn_!" He swore, seeing Sam/Jolinar carrying Selmak towards the wormhole.   
  
He considered running to them, in order to help Sam and Jolinar carry Selmak, but they were obviously strong enough to move fairly fast, even with Selmak on their shoulder, so instead he stayed by the wormhole, keeping it open.   
  
A shot from the deathglider exploded close behind Sam and Jolinar, and they stumbled and almost fell, but managed to make it the last distance to the Stargate, throwing themselves through. O’Neill jumped after them immediately, making it through safely as well.   
  


* * *

Jolinar got up first, quickly turning to check on the now unconscious Saroosh/Selmak, as the Stargate shut off behind them. She and O'Neill grabbed her and carried her away from the immediate path of the wormhole, and shouted at Daniel to dial out -  _anywhere_ , and fast!  
  
They all looked on in worry, as the wormhole opened, but one more glance at the shining glyphs confirmed they had opened the wormhole.  
  
One more jump through a wormhole brought them to another safe world, and from there, on to 'New Earth'.  
  
O'Neill and Jolinar carried Selmak over to the side of the Stargate and put her down, as soon as they were a safe distance away from the area where the soldiers guarded the gate.   
  
"Selmak?" Jolinar queried, grabbing the healing device she had clipped to her belt and beginning to use it on her.  
  
"Who is this?" O'Neill wondered.  
  
"Selmak - her host is Saroosh. She is the oldest and wisest of us, a great leader among my people," Jolinar explained, as she continued using the healing device.  
  
"She doesn't look so hot," O'Neill observed, worried.  
  
"Saroosh is old and weak - and her attempted flight from the Goa'uld did not improve matters. Selmak needs a new host."  
  
"Yeah..." O'Neill looked less than happy, and discreetly moved a little further away.  
  
"Jo... Jolinar..." Selmak coughed weakly and tried to lift her head. "Is it... really you? Ro... Rosha?"  
  
"Shhh, old friend. Take it easy. You must rest." Jolinar looked worried. "Yes, it is me. I have a new host, Samantha Carter. I lost Rosha to an ashrak." She closed her eyes for a moment.  
  
"I am so sorry to hear that... Saroosh also... gives her condolences."  
  
"Thank you." Jolinar sighed. Now was not the time to catch up. "Can you tell me what happened to the base? You were attacked, obviously."  
  
"By... several System Lords... I think. I do not... know." She coughed again. "I was in the healing rooms, so I... I was not party... to the information."  
  
O'Neill handed Jolinar a water canteen, stil keeping his distance. She accepted it, with a nod as thank you, and held it up to Selmak's lips. "Drink."  
  
Selmak thankfully swallowed a few gulps, and looked a little better. "The call was made for evacuation... Toven, and Katthara took upon themselves... to help me. We... were last." She was quiet for a little while, too tired to continue. After a few moments, she continued. "The deathgliders approached, and... the chaapa'ai was too far... away. Martouf... saw us... came back... back to help. We almost got away... we... the deathglider fired... Martouf shot back, with... with a staff weapon. The deathglider... crashed. Toven... Toven fell. Dead. Katthara and Martouf would carry me... but the Jaffa came towards us. Katthara was hit, and died."  
  
"What about Martouf?" Jolinar asked, deeply concerned.  
  
"Staff blast... grazed his back. Still, he would not... would not leave me. I ordered him.  _Yelled_ at him. Told him to go. Jolinar, do not worry. He got away... finally, he obeyed, left through the chaapa'ai. He was the... last to get out." Selmak fainted from the exhaustion.  
  
"Selmak!" Jolinar exclaimed, quickly checking on her. "She is alive, but very weak." She used the healing device again. "She is stable - for now, but the only thing that will save her is a new host, and very soon."  
  



	17. Blending - and Sharing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jacob decides to become host to Selmak. While they blend, Sam and Jolinar guard them, and spend the time talking. Sam makes the decision to remain Jolinar's host.

Sam/Jolinar worriedly stepped into the make-shift building that currently served as the base's infirmary. Selmak had been brought there a few hours ago, unconscious, and she had still not woken up. No one had volunteered to be her host, so Jolinar did not hold much hope for her friend’s survival.  
  
*Samantha - we should talk to your father again. Perhaps he might agree to blend with Selmak,* Jolinar suggested.  
  
*I think he may eventually agree, but I'm afraid he won't be ready to take that step until it's too late for Selmak.* Sam sighed.  
  
*Maybe, maybe not. I am not so sure. Perhaps the urgency of the situation will cause him to make a decision.*  
  
*We can try,* Sam offered, not really believing it would make a difference. Her father could be very stubborn.  
  
Jacob was now staying in one of the six-man rooms that the infirmary had for its patients. He was not as sick as he would have been without Jolinar's work with the healing device, but he was still very weak, and Janet had demanded he stayed closeby, so she and the other medical personnel could keep an eye on him. Sam walked over to the room she knew he stayed in, and knocked on the door.  
  
"Dad?"  
  


* * *

To their great surprise, Jacob had actually ended up agreeing to at least meet Selmak and talk to her, and to consider the opportunity to blend with her. Sam walked beside him, now and then giving him a worried look. He had become so frail and thin, she could almost not recognize him. He was still too proud to accept help, though, so she kept some distance, allowing him to make the journey to Selmak's room on his own.  
  
When they came into the room, Selmak had woken up, and she turned her head, looking towards them. She smiled weakly. "Jolinar."  
  
Jolinar smiled back at her, noticing that it was Saroosh in control. "Hello, Saroosh, Selmak. I have someone here I would like you to meet. His name is Jacob Carter, and he is my host's father."  
  
"Hello, sir," Saroosh said. "The reason for this... meeting... may I hope he is volunteering to host my dear Selmak?"  
  
"Maybe. He wishes to talk to the two of you first."  
  
"Of course."  
  
Jolinar pulled a chair up to the bed and Jacob sat down. "Hello, ma'am."  
  
"You are Jacob Carter, father of Jolinar's host?"  
  
"Yes, that I am." He threw a look at Jolinar. "You don't look so good, ma'am. Are you sure you're strong enough for this right now?"  
  
"You're no vision of beauty yourself, sir!" Saroosh coughed, then smiled, a little sadly, at him. "I am not going to get stronger. Waiting will only weaken both Selmak and myself - and make the blending less likely to succeed. If you chose to blend, sooner is better than later."  
  
"Forgive me, but what will happen to you, if I... uh...  _blend_ with your, your symbiote?"  
  
"I will die, and you will then take my place as host," Saroosh told him.  
  
"Hmm." Jacob nodded. "Could you tell me a little about, about this Selmak? How is she?"  
  
Sam and Jolinar kept their distance, relaxing as the discussion between the three others seemed to be going well. Sam - who had been given control - walked over to the other end of the room, in order to give them some privacy, but still be ready to step in, should they be needed for anything.  
  
*Jolinar,* Sam began. *Who is Martouf? When Selmak mentioned he was being shot at, you, well, you almost panicked. Who is he? I know you don't want to talk about any of your friends, so I can't give them up, but I got some pretty strong feelings from you when you thought of Martouf... and, and  _Lantash_? Is that the name of the host? Or the symbiote? I also caught a  _very_ short glimpse of a, um, a very handsome young man.*  
  
She sighed. *I suppose we have been together for long enough that you deserve to know. Martouf is the host, Lantash is the symbiote. They, are my mates.*  
  
*Your mates,* Sam repeated. *I knew, of course, that you had some - you mentioned it back on the planet where we went to buy supplies - but you also flat out refused to tell me anything about them then. Somehow, knowing their names, make them much more real to me. Jolinar, tell me a little about them?*  
  
Jolinar considered it for a moment. *Very well... I have been together with Lantash for almost 100 of your years - for nearly 25 of those, he has had Martouf as his host. Lantash can be somewhat self-assured and opinionated, and he is quite fiery. He is also very passionate, kind, and extremely intelligent. I love him very much. Martouf is more diplomatic and controlled, and can be somewhat shy and reserved. He is also kind and sweet, and as intelligent as Lantash. He is a gentle soul, but at the same time he can be a strong warrior, just as Lantash. They are both extremely loyal to the Tok'ra, and to their friends, and they will stop at nothing to help those they care for. Physically, they are very handsome, as you saw from the short glimpse.*  
  
*Wow, they're... certainly something! And you love them very much,* Sam observed.  
  
*I do, and so will you, if you remain my host.* Jolinar showed her another image of Martouf and Lantash, smiling a very charming smile, their pale blue-grey eyes seeming to look deep into your very soul. She then went on to show a succession of images, which quickly became very erotic.  
  
*Whoa! Jolinar! Not now!* Sam tried not to look, feeling embarrassed at seeing this private side of the life of her symbiote and her mates. *Wait - you said, if I remain your host, I will come to love them? How does that work, exactly? And what will happen, will you still be mates with them if you have a new host?*  
  
*I am not prepared to give them up! Samantha, host and symbiote love as one, so if we blend, and our feelings co-mingle, then you will quickly come to feel as I do. That is never a problem. The only thing that might take time, would be for Martouf and Lantash to accept you, but knowing them, I think that will not take long. You are very much their, ah, 'type', as you say, and you are also both kind and intelligent - and very beautiful. They will soon come to care for you, and, I think, will love you deeply, quickly. Of course, they will need time to mourn Rosha, but I suspect they already are, in a way. Both Rosha and me,* Jolinar sounded sad. *We have probably been declared dead many months ago. I have been here three months, and before that almost six months on Nasya - and before that, Rosha and I were on the run for just as long, with no way of contacting the Tok'ra.*  
  
*I'm sorry.* Sam 'hugged' Jolinar, really feeling sorry for her. She took a deep breath. *Jolinar, how Martouf and Lantash will react to me matters a great deal to me, because, because I am seriously considering remaining your host. Permanently. I have gotten to know you quite well, and I consider you a good friend. I think I would miss you terribly if you left me...so, if you still want me, then, I think, I would like to, uh, blend fully.*  
  
*You are certain?* Jolinar sounded extremely anxious, but hopeful as well.  
  
*Yes, yes, I am.*  
  
*Thank you!* Jolinar 'grinned' happily, and 'hugged' Sam hard.  
  
Sam smiled, certain she had a foolish look on her face, just from all the warmth, love, and happiness suddenly flowing from Jolinar. She felt as if she was wrapped in something warm and safe.  
  
"Sammie?" Jacob called, and from the expression on his face it was not the first time. "Jolinar?"  
  
She shook herself. "Sorry, Dad. I was talking to Jolinar."  
  
"You looked pretty far away - but also quite happy. I'll take that as a good sign for my future - with Selmak."  
  
"So you've decided to blend?" Sam got up and walked towards him.  
  
"Yes." Jacob nodded. "My only other option is death, and that's just not acceptable. Besides, I actually think I'm going to like being Tok'ra, as weird as it sounds."  
  
"That's great, Dad!" Sam smiled widely. "I'll give Jolinar control now, then she'll guide you through this." She dipped her head.  
  


* * *

Sam and Jolinar sat in the chair beside the bed where Jacob and Selmak were blending - and Selmak was healing Jacob's body. They had borrowed another examination bed for Jacob to lie on, and wheeled it over next to Saroosh and Selmak. Selmak had then jumped into Jacob, and said her goodbyes to Saroosh, who had died almost instantly. Janet had taken the bed with Saroosh's body aside, for later burial.  
  
*Should it take this long?* Sam asked, worried.  
  
*Jacob is quite sick, so it will take some time for Selmak to heal him. She is also weak, from keeping Saroosh alive for a long time. Aside from that, blending itself takes some time, if they decide to do a full blending immediately, which would really be best, given that it makes it easier for the symbiote to heal the host. There is also no reason not to, as we are not under attack.*  
  
A moment later, the door to the room slammed open and Samuels entered, followed by Keffler, Nichols, and a couple guards. The three first looked furious.  
  
"What is going  _on_ here?!" Samuels exclaimed. He spotted Jacob lying on the bed, and started towards him. "We were told another  _Tok'ra_..." He made a long enough pause to make sure all were aware that he thought it was a trick, and the Tok'ra were really Goa'uld, "...was brought here to this base - and we  _weren't_ informed! We're is she?"  
  
Sam's eyes flashed as Jolinar took over. "It would seem you are quite well informed. There was indeed a Tok'ra brought here, but she was in very bad condition, and there was no time to inform you. She was brought directly here to the infirmary." She stepped in front of Samuels, stopping him from approaching Jacob and Selmak further.  
  
"I see." Samuels glared at her. "And where would this  _Tok'ra_ be right now?"  
  
Jolinar took a deep breath. "She was in urgent need of a new host, and General Jacob Carter volunteered to be her host. They are currently blending."  
  
" _Blending_? What the hell is that?" He looked enraged. "Did you stick the snake in General Carter? Get it out, immediately!" He tried getting past Jolinar.  
  
"I will do no such thing - and it would kill both of them if Selmak attempted it. You must leave.  _Now_ ! They must not be disturbed while Selmak works at healing her new hosts body. It requires all her strength and concentration.  _Leave_!" Jolinar took a threatening step towards Samuels, and flashed her eyes again.  
  
Samuels swallowed, then retreated, clearly not feeling very comfortable near the Tok'ra. "Very well, but I can assure you we shall be back as soon as General Carter is well enough to receive us."  
  
"The symbiote can heal his cancer?" Nichols asked, interested. "I would very much like to examine them during this process."  
  
"To do so might kill them.  _Leave_!" Jolinar repeated.  
  
Samuels grabbed Nichols. "Come, leave the snakeheads alone. You'll get your chance to take a look at them again later."  
  
Jolinar glared angrily after them, and remained standing near the bed, protecting Jacob and Selmak from any further intrusions.  
  


* * *

"Jolinar?" Selmak asked, as she sat up in the bed.  
  
"Yes, I am here, my friend." She hurried to their side. "Are you well?"  
  
"We are both quite well." Selmak smiled.  
  
Jolinar was quiet for a moment, looking distant, then looked at Selmak. "My host would like to talk to her father." She then bowed her head, giving Sam control.  
  
"Of course." Selmak said, dipping her head and letting Jacob come fore.  
  
"Dad?" Sam asked.  
  
"Hi, kiddo - It's me!" He smiled at her, then threw his arms around her.  
  
Sam returned the embrace, then stepped back a little, smiling at him. "You're really okay?"  
  
"I feel great!" Jacob flexed his fingers and jumped up and down a few times, grinning. "Holy Hannah, no arthritis!"  
  


* * *

After Jacob and Sam had talked a little, Jolinar and Selmak spent some time together, getting Jolinar up to speed on what had happened while she was on the run. She also explained to Selmak what she and Rosha had experienced, and how Rosha had died. She then turned to the important news she had about a spy among the Tok'ra.  
  
This was of great concern to all of them - Selmak told Jolinar that the spy had not been caught, and that no one truly suspected there being a spy among the Tok'ra. Among their informers, yes, that could happen, but the Tok'ra were usually loyal for life. What really shocked Selmak was who the spy was.  
  
" _Cordesh_?" Selmak stared at Jolinar. "Surely, this cannot be so! He is a member of the Council, and he has been a loyal, trusted Tok'ra for almost 2000 years! He was your vassal, and he followed you when you became Tok'ra. He swore allegiance, not only to the Tok'ra, but to you as well. This...this is insane!"  
  
Jolinar sighed deeply. "I wish it was not the truth, but I am afraid it is. At first, I also did not wish to believe, and tried to find other explanations, but soon I had no choice but to accept it. He was in contact with Cronus more than once while I was undercover there, and he was also the one who betrayed me."  
  
"But... but  _why_?" Selmak looked pained. "Why would he do this to us? To  _you_ , you who gave him everything!"  
  
"I gave him a host when he thought he would die with his mortally injured Jaffa, and I gave him the position of vassal on one of my worlds. Yes, but that was a long time ago, and as much for my own benefit as his. I was not yet Tok'ra, as you very well know."  
  
Selmak slowly shook her head. "He  _was_ loyal."  
  
"He was, yes. I truly believe that as well. His betrayal is recent, and I do not know how it came about. It must have been something drastic, for him to turn his back on the Tok'ra. It...  _worries_ me that he would,  _could_ , do that."  
  
"Jolinar, you would  _never_ turn Goa'uld again.  _Never_ ," Selmak said with conviction, realizing what was worrying her friend. "Trust me on this."  
  
Jolinar nodded. "Thank you, old friend. I needed the reassuring." She took a deep breath. "It is worrying to have Cordesh loose on the base, with nothing to do about it. Since some Tok'ra were left behind, even if they were thought dead or dying, the bases would have moved again. They could not risk any being revived and forced to tell of the new location. You are certain all bases and outposts will be in deep secret mode?"  
  
"Very certain. If Cordesh has given the System Lords the position of one base, he likely gave them others. Whatever it is that has caused the attack to happen now, whatever has caused him to give that information now, I am certain he will soon report on the Tok'ra again, since he has now reached the point where he is willing do so. Presumably, some remnant of his old loyalty had caused him to refrain before, in the period between his betrayal of you, and the attack that happened yesterday."  
  
"True, it is more than 15 months since his betrayal of me, and the attack did not happen until now. Surely, the System Lords would not have held off, so Cordesh must not have given them the information until now. That also means he has reached a point in his corruption, where he will not care about betraying us again, and the bases will soon have to move again. The Tok'ra will become very paranoid, very quickly. Yes, I agree, they will be in deep secret mode within weeks, at the most." She sighed again. "I had hoped to wait only a week, then go to one of the safety boxes and retrieve information about one of the outposts. That will not be possible now."  
  
"No, they will not be updated with information until the spy has been caught."  
  
"A lot of damage can be done before that, when the spy is as highly placed as Cordesh. I cannot wait for that. I  _must_ go to find them, Selmak."  
  
She nodded, understanding. "I wish you luck. I shall stay here and get to know my new host, but if you have not found our people soon, I shall assist you in searching, of course. I only wish I was able to give you more useful information."  
  
"Think nothing of it." Jolinar made a conscious decision to push the problem about Cordesh aside until such a time where she could actually do something about it. "Selmak, something else... how fares Martouf and Lantash?"  
  
"They are... mostly well, though they have been very concerned about you, and have missed you terribly. Three months ago, when you had been lost for a year, you and Rosha were officially declared dead. While Martouf and Lantash must have been expecting it, that hit them hard. They do not speak much to others, and are obviously mourning, though I do not believe they have completely given up hope. They are keeping to themselves, and not really taking part of anything social. Lantash is in control much more than otherwise, and he can be hard to read - except that he seems to have even less patience than usually, so there has been some situations where he, ah, spoke both harshly and rashly, I believe. Most people understand, though."  
  
"My poor beloveds." Jolinar looked almost heartbroken, not something she ever did otherwise. "I truly wish I could go to them immediately, and hold them close to me, and comfort them."  
  
"Hopefully, you soon can."


	18. A Ritual

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Back on Earth, Sam's brother, Mark, is 'invited' to a Goa'uld ritual, together with a fairly large group of other humans in somewhat higher positions. 
> 
> Warning: minor violence and unpleasant events

_October 10 1998, Amaunet's Jewel, The World of the Tau'ri_  
  
Mark walked slowly through the quiet street. He was early, and he had no intention of getting to his destination before he had to. It was early evening, and the stars were coming out. He suddenly noticed that the sky was already much darker than he was used to. It was of course due to the lack of electric street lights, but for some reason he had not paid attention to it before.  
  
Taking a deep breath, he noticed something else. The air was much cleaner than it had been before. The lack of cars in the streets, and the almost complete lack of heavy industry, meant that the air was cleaner than he had experienced in a city before. Only when he had been deep inside a forest had the air been like this. He took another breath of air. It was very crisp and cold, proving that the fall had truly come now.  
  
While it was certainly pleasant to have fresh air, that was not what hit him the most. No, what he realized was how much the world had changed, and so quickly. He had been so busy trying to survive, and working to get the best possible opportunities for his family, that he had barely paid attention to all the other things that had changed. It had just been things he needed to adapt to. Horrible things, yes, but he had not allowed himself the time to truly think about the real ramifications of what had transpired.  
  
They were subjugated by an evil alien. Hundreds of  _millions_ were dead, billions enslaved, and tens of thousands had already been shipped offworld to a fate he did not know for sure and certainly did not wish to think about. Almost everything that had defined their daily life was gone.  
  
Gone were electricity, computers, radio, central heating, telephones, newspapers, television - with the exception of small transmission units only used for sending messages from their Lord, and powered by only God knew what kind of technology. It surely did not have any kind of battery  _he_ could recognize.  
  
Gone were vacations, movie theaters, schools, doctors, industrial products, premade food... most stores, actually, aside from a few that had popped up, selling what people could scavenge from  _before_ , or what they could make.  
  
Gone were freedom and any and all kinds of human rights, as well as most of the things that had defined his society.  
  
Mark took a deep breath and pushed the dark thoughts away. He would focus on what he had; his wife and his children, he had work, they had a place to stay, food on the table every day, clean clothes for the children.  
  
Those were things that not everyone had. He had seen the poor and starving people, those who previously held a job that were no longer needed, and who could do no other. Those who were too old, too young, too sick to work as slaves. With that many to choose from, the Goa'uld took only the strongest. The rest had to fend for themselves, as best they could.  
  
Of course, if they had 'dangerous' knowledge -  _technological_ knowledge - or if they were resisting the new Lord in any way, they died. So many had died during the attack, but many more had died later.  
  
 _Stop it_ , Mark! Why was he thinking of this? He shook his head, and walked a little faster, trying to clear his mind.  
  
He, and the other 'top-level' humans in Colorado Spr... eh,  _Amaunet's Jewel_ , had been... 'invited' to witness the ceremony of  _Renec, Lak Shal'Kek_ , which translated to something like Honour, Life, and Death.   
  
They said it was a great honour - and besides, they would not have taken no for an answer. He thought is sounded more than slightly ominous, and he was very glad he was only invited to  _witness_ the ceremony, and not take part in it. Or so he hoped.  
  


* * *

Mark sat in his seat on the second row of raised seats, looking out over the maybe 100-120 humans gathered.   
  
A fairly large, oblong lake, maybe 350 feet long, had been constructed in the field behind the almost-finished palace of Apophis's. The lake was made out much like a swimming pool, with the sides paved with flat rocks. When he had walked past it on his way to his seat, he had noticed it looked to be quite deep.   
  
The seats for the humans were placed along a quarter circle at one end of this lake. Another quarter circle at the same end had a raised platform where Lord Apophis and his queen Amaunet, and beside them were seats for several members of their court. The lo'tars stood at the sides of their Lords. All the dignitaries were protected by a fairly large number of Jaffa, and there were also many human slaves.   
  
Most of the guests had now arrived, and Apophis rose, prepared to be worshipped by everyone present.   
  
One of the Jaffa standing where the humans sat, gave a short order, and any humans that had not risen as soon as Apophis did, now got up very quickly. At a sign, they all fell to their knees in the space provided before each seat - which explained why there were such a large distance between the rows.  
  
Down on the center platform, Apophis grinned magnanimously and held out his arms half-way and to the sides, his hands turned upwards, as he received their praise. Beside him Amaunet stood as well, looking beautiful, but proud and arrogant. At some distance, not on the actual platform, but on a smaller raised floor, stood various minor Goa'uld. Mark recognized Lord Eskall, the head of the Human Census Office. He had only seen him once in real life, but twice more on pictures. Kohnak, his own direct leader, was not there, Mark noticed, so he was probably too low in the hierarchy to be invited for this. Or he had other things to do. Mark did not know how many Goa'uld were actually  _on_ Earth, but it would have to be fairly many, as it was a big planet with a large population, and there seemed to be a great many jobs the Goa'uld would not even let Jaffa do.  
  
" _Ai'emain_ !" Apophis told them, and they all rose, having learned to recognize this Goa'uld word. "You are to be honoured by witnessing the ceremony of  _Renec, Lak Shal'Kek_ \- the first since the world of the Tau'ri became once again as it should be, the residence of a god!"  
  
Another Goa'uld stepped up on the platform, this one wearing more subdued clothing, marking his lower rank. He stopped a few steps from Apophis and Amaunet and bowed respectfully. After greeting them, he turned in the direction of the humans. Mark recognized him as Sitet, one of Apophis's underlings who had taken a host from Earth, presumably in order to exploit the hosts memories and knowledge of some of Earth's languages, cultures, and traditions. It would certainly come in handy.  
  
"One hundred of this worlds worst traitors have been selected for tonight’s ritual. You are fortunate to get the rare  _honour_ of seeing what befalls those who disobey their god!"  
  
Mark shuddered, and he could see the other humans were feeling uncomfortable as well. There was no doubt that this was not meant as an honour, but as a warning. He swallowed as the Jaffa started leading a terrified group of humans towards the lake, most of the prisoners crying or screaming in fear, some of them struggling in vain with the Jaffa.   
  
The Jaffa took the humans to the edge of the pool, then stopped and waited.  
  
A small group of people wearing what looked like light brown cassocks, with a dark overcast on their upper body, stepped forward. Over their heads they had on a kind of hood that also covered their shoulders. It seemed to be made of some kind of reptile skin.  
  
"Priests from Apophis's world," the man beside Mark whispered to the others.  
  
The priests - or whatever they were - carried a large receptacle up to the very brink of the lake, setting it down so that it was hanging out over the water. Mark studied it as well as he could. Where he sat he was only maybe 40 feet away, and so he could see it quite clearly, but he could not guess what it was.  
  
"Kree, Goa'uld!" Sitet said, from his place on the platform."Rak'lo najaquna shel're kowa lak! Ral-tora Kree!"  
  
"Something about Goa'uld getting ready for a new life... and then wishing them good luck, or something - I think." The man beside Mark smiled apologetically. "They are training me in Goa'uld, so I can translate."  
  
Mark nodded. "Okay. Thanks." He frowned, not really interested in what was said. He just wished this was over with, and soon. He wanted to get back to his wife and children,  _safely_.  
  
The Jaffa down at the pool now pushed the screaming and crying humans down into the water. Due to their number, they took up a fair portion of the lake, and they splashed and tried to get out of the water, which seemed to be too deep for them to stand in. The sides, however, where too high and too slippery for them to crawl out of the water, except in one place, where the water was shallow and the sides low. The Jaffa, however, kept guard just there, and allowed no one to leave.  
  
Moments later, the sides of the receptacle were removed by the priests, and a large transparent tank was now visible. Something was swimming inside it, something with serpentine bodies. Snakes? No, they seemed to have fins. Eel-like, Mark thought.   
  
The creatures inside seemed agitated, and he could hear them squeal. Not eels, then, or snakes, as neither had the ability to make such sounds. He remembered his sister had lectured him about it, sometime during their child-hood when she had been interested in biology. That had soon changed to astrophysics, of course.  
  
Almost against his own will, he leaned forward to better be able to see, lured in by his own curiosity. The priests opened the bottom of the tank, and the creatures inside fell the short distance into the water below. They immediately swam in the direction of the humans in the water, some of them going directly for the nearest ones, while others continued on, sticking their heads up here and there, almost as if they were checking out the people. Mark found it creepy.  
  
That was when the first of the humans cried out, and Mark turned his head just in time to see what looked like the man's eyes flashing, like he had seen the Goa'uld do. Immediately it hit him - why had he not realized it before? - the rumours said that the true form of the Goa'uld were eel-like. The creatures in the tank where Goa'uld, of course. Goa'uld who were now getting hosts...   
  
Mark shuddered and again wondered how he had not realized that until now. Perhaps because the Goa'uld seemed to put such importance on choosing their hosts, and this was prisoners? Prisoners, which a group of host-less Goa'uld were allowed to fight for. He shook his head, revolted. He could not stop watching, though, and followed the spectacle with a morbid fascination.  
  


* * *

Lord Eskall - or Karak, as his real name was - observed the happenings, frowning slightly. Only once had he been witness to something like this happening before, and that was also when a Goa'uld had just taken over a previously free planet and had wanted to make sure the population was properly subdued.  
  
It was not that the Goa'uld did not normally hold competitions for the symbiotes who were about to take their first host. They did, or there would quickly become too many Goa'uld, at least that was the general feeling among the Goa’uld. The new Goa'uld would be rivals. On the other hand, large numbers of larvae were needed, to keep the Jaffa alive, and the Jaffa needed to be dependent of symbiotes, to be kept under control. Thus, there was no choice but to allow vast numbers of symbiotes to be born, but only a few were allowed to live past maturity and take hosts.  
  
A small number were chosen for high positions, and picked to be heirs and honoured children of the System Lords, but most would be extremely lucky to get a host, and even if they did, they would have to slowly work their way up from unimportant positions. Very minor Goa'uld, who mostly stayed that way.  
  
Those who even got a host, were chosen in a competition, much like this one, with two very important differences; First, it would normally be held in secret, with only Goa'uld and some high-ranking Jaffa as witnesses, since the true form of the gods were usually kept secret, and only rumoured. Second, there would be a small number of hosts, and a large number of symbiotes - who would then compete for the hosts, with usually only the most aggressive and driven ones getting to take a host.   
  
This had the side effect of keeping the Goa’uld an aggressive, power hungry species, since those were the ones that got hosts.  
  
Karak sighed, making sure to hide the spectacle from his host Loskhar. Given what he had seen happen to his sister, he would not handle this event well.  
  
He had realized ot was going to happen when he overheard Apophis ordering the traitors rounded up and prepared for the ceremony. Most of the humans had been reported by their neighbors, for speaking out against Apophis. He wished the people had not been put on the lists, but he had been unable to remove them from the registers.   
  
Ten Jaffa had needed new primta's, and so there where now ten mature symbiotes available. Usually, except in the case of the chosen few, usually heirs of System Lords, the mature symbiotes would be removed from their Jaffa and put together in a tank a few hours before they got their 'host opportunity'.  
  


* * *

Mark watched as ten Goa'uld walked out of the pool, one by one, and then approached Apophis, prostrating themselves before him, loudly proclaiming their eternal loyalty. Of course, Apophis needed more underlings to control the planet, and now he had ten more. They might not all be as loyal as they proclaimed, but in that case they would probably die if they could not hide it, or escape before it was discovered.   
  
Mark wondered what would happen with those humans who had been lucky enough  _not_ to be picked? The answer came right away, when the Jaffa opened fire on the people remaining in the pool, quickly killing everyone there. Mark - and seemingly everyone around him - gasped out loudly, shocked by the barbarism.  
  
"Remember, loyalty is life!" Sitet bellowed from his position at the edge of the platform. Mark noticed the obvious smirk on his face. The evil son of a bitch was clearly enjoying the horror of the humans.  
  
In stunned silence, the humans hurried out from the ceremonial grounds as soon as they were dismissed, and walked back to their residences in silence, deep in thought and still shocked to the core.  
  
Apophis looked with satisfaction after the departing humans. When the stories about this spread, no one would dare defy him! He had even gotten ten underlings out of it. They would have to be watched for the first time, of course, but hopefully at least half of them would be both competent and loyal. Pleased, he turned to his wife, giving her a loving look. "Shall we return to the palace, my love? I have ordered the head cook to prepare a light dinner, and there is sparkling wine from the area of the Tau'ri they call 'France'."  
  
"Yes, thank you my Lord. It sounds lovely. You know I  _adore_ that wine." She smiled at him.


	19. Decisions - and an Unpleasant Discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> O'Neill, Teal'c, Ferretti, and Cromwell find that the Tau'ri Council are perhaps not so different from the Goa'uld, as they might have wished. 
> 
> Warning: mention of atrocities

_October 10 1998, New Earth_  
  
Jacob and Selmak had together with SG-1, Jolinar, and Hammond, been debriefed - or more like interrogated - by the Council. It had taken most of two days before Kinsey and his people were satisfied and had finished asking all their questions.  
  
After that, Jacob and Selmak had been given small - but private - quarters, since Jacob no longer needed to stay in the infirmary.  
  
Sam and Jolinar had returned to their own quarters - also private, from when they had been kept under guard. Fortunately, that was no longer the case, but they were happy for the personal quarters, especially right now. They were finally going to blend fully, and that was something they were both looking forward to - and they did not want to be interrupted.  
  
*What exactly is going to happen?* Sam asked, as she crawled down in her bed, and pulled the blanket up over them. *What should I do?*  
  
*Our memories and knowledge - except for what either of us wish to keep private - will merge. We will learn about each other, and see each others experiences. When we wake up, we will know each other better than we know any other. As for what you need to do? Nothing. Relax, and open your mind. I will lead you, and do what needs to be doing. There is a physical aspect to it as well, as I will send more of my tendrils deeper into your mind, now when I no longer expect to leave you for a great many centuries.* Jolinar 'smiled'.  
  
*That sounds... interesting.* Sam took a deep breath and closed her eyes, leaning back into the pillow.  
  
She allowed herself to relax, and her mind was soon almost feeling as it was drifting. She was in a place that felt familiar, but she recognized nothing. Everything around her looked like a slowly shifting, colourful fog. Then she suddenly saw a petite woman with shoulder length, blond hair and blue eyes. She was very beautiful, and Sam immediately knew it was Jolinar.  
  
*I am showing you an image of Rosha, since that is still the image I associate myself with, and I believe you would feel comforted by it.* She smiled at Sam, and held out her hand. *Come with me, and we will learn about each other together, and see some of our memories and experiences. Shall we begin?*  
  
Sam nodded, and took Jolinar's hand. *Yes, I am ready.* She followed her.  
  


* * *

October 20 1998, New Earth   
  
"Idiots!" Sam exclaimed, as she slammed the door shut to the small mess hall - were currently only SG-1 was present.  
  
"They said no again?" O'Neill said, more as a statement than a question, really.  
  
"Of course they did!" Sam poured a cup of the substitute coffee, then sat down, taking a drink. She made a face. "I think I miss coffee more than anything else."  
  
"I agree." Daniel gave her a sad look.  
  
"I do not understand why the Council will not let you search for the Tok'ra," Teal'c observed. "They have accepted that the Tok'ra are real, that they fight the Goa’uld, and that they could be a valuable ally. They even hope to receive technology and resources from them in aid. How do they presume this will happen, if you are not allowed to search out the Tok'ra?"  
  
"They are idiots, Teal'c!" Sam sighed. "It's not that they don't want to go look for the Tok'ra, but they don't trust Jolinar - or Selmak - to go off on our own, especially not since it can be for an extended period, given that the Tok'ra are likely on the run. They won't accept that a larger group can't go to the places we need to go  _inconspicuously_ , and that Jolinar may have to pretend to be a Goa'uld, which she cannot do with a group of human soldiers coming along!"  
  
"She needs to go undercover?" Daniel asked.  
  
"Yes, Selmak - and a small unit of guards - went to check on one of the secret boxes, which would normally contain information of a Tok'ra outpost. There was no new information. The Tok'ra must still be on the run, and have gone deep secret. The only option is to contact an operative, and even those may have moved or had to flee."  
  
"So undercover it is. I get it." O'Neill nodded.  
  


* * *

October 30 1998, Primo   
  
As commander of New Earth, the largest Tau’ri colony, O’Neill would return to Primo once a week for consultations with the Council and the other base commanders. They all reported on their current status, exchanged intelligence, and received the occasional order from the Council.   
  
Teal'c was accompanying O'Neill, as his guard. Kinsey and some of the other members of the Council did not trust Teal'c, since he was not only an alien, but a Jaffa and the former first prime of Apophis. Because of this, Teal'c was not allowed on the Council planet. However, as a base commander, O'Neill had the right to appoint  _anyone_ as his personal guard. This meant Teal'c always went with O'Neill to these debriefings, and O'Neill was clearly enjoying sticking it to the Council.  
  
When they arrived on Primo, one of the guards at the Stargate told them that the meeting with the Council was postponed for 'at least three hours', because of 'important business'. They were invited to sit beside the Stargate and wait.  
  
" _Here_?" O'Neill exclaimed, giving them an incredulous look. "Can you at least tell us  _why_ we have to wait in this forsaken place?"  
  
"Sorry, sir. I have not been informed of the reason, only that the Council are not to be disturbed for the next three hours or more." The guard looked apologetic.  
  
O'Neill took a deep breath, realizing the young man was not at fault. "Okay!" He sighed, looking around. "We don't have to sit  _here_ and wait, do we? Can’t we take a walk or something?"  
  
The guard looked uncertain, and gave his colleague - an equally young man - a questioning look. The other man shrugged. "I don't see why not. Just make sure to be back here in three hours, if they should be ready by then."  
  
"Great! Come on, Teal'c! Let's check out this place. Perhaps there's a good restaurant - I haven't had a decent steak in a long time."  
  
"Indeed, O'Neill. That sounds most attractive," Teal'c said.  
  
They were about to leave when the Stargate activated again, and they immediately assumed a defensive position. O'Neill spotted several more of the guards popping their heads out from behind the two guard posts.  
  
After the attacks on the bases, a decision had been made to try a new positioning of the defenses. Before, they had claymores everywhere in front of the Stargate, which needed to be detonated by hand, and the guards were spread evenly behind low dirt mounds some distance away.   
  
Now, instead, mines had been dug down over almost the entire area before the Stargate, with the exception of a path along which their own people and welcome visitors would go. The track was on a straight line, at a forty-five degrees angle from the Stargate. It was clearly marked and could be followed by everybody, even an attacker, but they would be running straight toward a guard tower and into a hail of bullets.  
  
Another tower was positioned to cover the area in front of the gate, but without risking to hit the guards at the other post. They should be able to get any Jaffa or other enemies who strayed from the path, or simply panicked during the attack and ran hither-dither. Of course, the mines would claim the majority, unless there were many enough to clear the field.  
  
Out from the event horizon stepped two men, which O'Neill recognized as Ferretti and his personal guard, lieutenant Olson. He waved at them. "Ferretti! Olson!"  
  
Ferretti smiled as he and his guard approached O'Neill and Teal'c. "Colonel... Teal'c! Good to see you, guys!"  
  
"Ferretti." Teal'c inclined his head to him. "Lieutenant Olson."  
  
"You too. It's been too long since we had the time to sit down and relax...a few beers, pizza..." O'Neill said.  
  
Ferretti nodded. "Yeah, that's true. This base commander business isn't making it any easier."  
  
"Nah, it takes up far too much time." O'Neill sighed, then nodded in the direction of the guards. "They told me the Council has postponed our meeting for three hours."  
  
"At  _least_ three hours," Teal'c corrected.  
  
"Aw, man, I'd hope to get back early and get something to eat. Today was crazy, so I haven't even had breakfast," Ferretti complained.   
  
"Then why don't you two accompany us? We were about to go see if the nearest village has something to offer," O’Neill suggested.   
  
"Sounds like a plan. What do you say, Olson?"  
  
"Ah, well..." He looked like he was searching for an excuse, and threw a glance towards the nearest guards post, where a young woman in uniform waved at him.  
  
"But you'd hoped to get the chance to talk to... what's her name... Captain Timmons?" Ferretti grinned.  
  
"Yeah." Olson looked embarrassed.  
  
"Go right ahead. I'm in no danger with O'Neill and Teal'c here. Besides, we're supposed to pair up, you know? The Council want to make sure there's a next generation to fight for a free Earth, or haven't you heard?"  
  
"I thought we were still hoping to win back Earth in  _this_ generation?" O'Neill remarked, sarcastically.  
  
They were interrupted by yet another activation of the Stargate, and a short while later, Colonel Frank Cromwell stepped through, followed by a guard O'Neill did not know. He frowned. Cromwell had once been his friend, but after their mission to Iraq, several years ago, they did not talk. O'Neill had ended up spending four months in an Iraqi prison, due to a judgment call made by Cromwell, who had thought O'Neill was dead. True, it had saved the rest of the team, but O'Neill had never forgiven him.   
  
Now they had to meet from time to time, since they were both base commanders, but O'Neill did his best to avoid the other man.  
  
Teal'c and Ferretti both studied O'Neill and his reaction. This animosity was becoming problematic to the work between O'Neill's and Cromwell's base, and Ferretti decided it had already gone on long enough. "Hey, Cromwell!" He waved at him. "The Council has postponed the debrief for three hours! We're going to go get something to eat in the nearest village. Join us, won't you?"  
  
O'Neill gave Ferretti an annoyed look and opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it. They  _did_ , after all, have to work together.  
  
Cromwell looked undecided for a moment, then smiled at Ferretti. "Yeah, sure. Why not?"  
  


* * *

O'Neill and the others soon reached a well-trodden path and began following it. The track went through the edge of a dense forest, and for maybe 15 minutes they walked through it, the air cool and thick of the smell of growing things. Here and there patches of light came through the thick leaves, and it was very peaceful.  
  
The woods thinned and they came out of the forest and into a hilly terrain. The mountains could be seen in the distance, the very top of the largest one glistening with snow.  
  
Turning a bend of the path, following it around one of the smaller hills, gave them a full view of a beautiful valley - and the smoking ruins of the village that had once been nestled there.  
  
"What the  _hell_ happened here!" O'Neill exclaimed.  
  
"Perhaps a Goa'uld attack?" Ferretti suggested, immediately realizing it did not make any sense.  
  
"The attack was very recent, no later than this morning." Teal'c observed. "If the Goa'uld had attacked  _then_ , they would not have left the Tau'ri base undisturbed."  
  
It had been a fairly large village, maybe 3-400 people had likely lived here. Now every building in the village seemed to have been destroyed. Fires were still burning here and there, but in most places it had been reduced to embers. Holes in the ground were scattered over the area, as were walls that had been ripped apart as if by explosions. Dead bodies littered the streets. Frowning, O'Neill bent down to check on the nearest. It was a girl, maybe ten or eleven years old. She was dead, her corpse riddled by bullets.   
  
"Teal'c's right," O'Neill said, looking grim. "The Goa'uld did not do this.  _We_ did."  
  
"Why?" Cromwell asked, looking frustrated. "I thought these people were peaceful?"  
  
"They were," Teal'c said, the muscle in his jaw twitching, as it sometimes did when he was very angry.  
  
"We need to report it to the Council immediately, and have them investigate this atrocity! If someone from Earth did this - and I agree it looks like it - then we have to get to the bottom of this immediately!" Ferretti said, enraged.  
  
"Don't you get it? There's  _no_ way this could have happened without the Council's knowledge. How do you think they got here? The village is less than half an hours journey from the 'gate!  Someone _has_ _got_ to know!" O'Neill exclaimed.  
  
"But  _why_ ?" Ferretti shook his head in disbelief.  
  
"I... I think I know why," Cromwell suddenly said, looking unhappy. "One of my people is a geologist by training, and he was ordered to survey the area about two weeks ago. He reported his findings to the Council, and then they sent him back. He had been sworn not to tell what he found, so I don't know for sure, but I'll  _bet_ it's something good!"  
  
"Something in these hills or the mountains behind them." O'Neill nodded. "Probably near this village, and the locals didn't want to let anyone dig for ore or whatever, and didn't want to move the village, most likely." He shook his head, sad and furious at the same time.  
  
"O'Neill! Over here," Teal'c shouted, hurrying in the direction where he had seen movement.  
  
The others ran after Teal'c, and just saw someone duck behind the rubble of a wall. Teal'c was after him, and cornered the man, who immediately surrendered.  
  
"Please, do not hurt me!" The young man was maybe twenty, and he looked terrified.  
  
"Relax, son, we won't harm you," O'Neill assured him. "What's your name?"  
  
"Lohkak."  
  
"Can you tell us what happened here?" O'Neill asked.  
  
"Men came. Men dressed like you!" Lohkak insisted, his eyes still fearful. "They killed  _everyone_! My parents, my brothers and sisters, the neighbors...  _everyone_."  
  
"How many where they?  _When_ did it happen?" Cromwell demanded.  
  
"Why don't we take him to one of the other villages first?" Ferretti suggested, when he saw the man back away in fear from the harsh words.  
  
Cromwell nodded. "Good idea. Sorry, I didn't wanna scare you, son, I'm just very angry that my people, the...  _Tau'ri_ did this!"  
  
Lohkak slowly nodded. "I will tell you everything."  
  
O'Neill, Cromwell, Teal'c, and Ferretti took Lohkak to the nearest of the other villages, while Lohkak explained what had happened. He was no longer afraid of them, but deeply affected by what had transpired.   
  
Some Tau'ri had surveyed the area around the village about two weeks ago. Cromwell guessed that one of them had been the geologist from his base. They had found something in the hills, some kind of ore, and there was a lot of it just where the village was located. A couple days later, more men had come from the Tau'ri base, and they had asked, then demanded that the villagers move somewhere else and allow the Tau'ri to excavate the hills.  
  
A meeting had been held in the village, and after much deliberation, it had been decided to turn down the people from the Tau'ri base. The village had been there for as long as anyone could remember. It was a perfect place in every way. Besides, the villagers did not believe the Tau'ri would harm them. Their new neighbors seemed peaceful, even if they  _did_ carry guns and guarded the Stargate. However, the Tau’ri had fled from a Goa’uld attack on their home world. Something like that should be respected and everyone felt sorry for them. They had also traded some goods, and so, the general opinion were that no harm would come from making it clear that the village stayed where it was.  
  
That decision had been made the day before yesterday, and a delegation had been sent to the Tau'ri base. Today, the attack had come. It had been swift, and there had been no mercy. No one and nothing was spared. The small group of Tau'ri warriors had used their terrifying weapons to fight off the villagers. Soon everyone else was dead, and the buildings reduced to rubble. Lohkak had been spared, but only so that there could be someone to tell the tale to the other villages nearby.  
  
Resist the Tau'ri and die.


	20. A Hard Choice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kinsey and his followers are punished for their transgressions. 
> 
> Warning: violence (fairly explicit), minor character deaths

  
O'Neill and the others had left Lohkak with the people of a nearby village. They had also been given the same ultimatum as Lohkak's village had, and upon hearing his story, they had immediately become terrified and made the decision to move.  
  
"It is a common strategy among the Goa'uld." Teal'c observed. "Make an example of one village, but spare a single man to tell others. After that, there are no more trouble on the planet."  
  
"Yeah, I get that, Teal'c, and I'm afraid it's something that's been used a lot throughout Earth’s history, as well, so the Goa'uld are not alone in that." O'Neill sighed. "We ought to be better than that, dammit!"  
  
"Humans tend to revert to, ah, a more primitive state when their surroundings are hard." Ferretti said. "I think it was Daniel who talked about it, some time ago."  
  
"Sounds like something he would say," O'Neill agreed.  
  
"But this quickly?" Cromwell still had a hard time accepting it. "I mean, I  _get_ that a lot of bad things have happened during these past months, but  _still_!"  
  
"Well, it certainly looks like it." Ferretti frowned. "Problem is, if this gets out, we're not gonna get many friends in  _this_ Galaxy."  
  
O'Neill groaned, thinking about what Jolinar or Selmak would say when they heard about it. Any future cooperation with the Tok'ra would be impossible, if they reverted to barbarism. Something like this could not be allowed to happen. It was  _wrong_ , and it would only get worse, if whomever had done it, got away with it.  
  
"We need to find those who did this - and we need to... take care of them," He said, looking unhappy.   
  
"The Council has put together an elite unit to protect them. They are completely loyal to Kinsey and his followers," Ferretti observed. "Kinsey even put his oldest son in charge of them."  
  
Cromwell nodded. "Yeah, I've heard about them. A couple of my boys had a run-in with a few of them the other day. They seem like a nasty bunch."  
  
"We’ll talk to Hammond, he should be back today. If we hurry, we'll have a little time before the meeting with the Council begins." O'Neill decided.  
  


* * *

Hammond had been on a tour of all the colonies, since apart from being base commander on the Council world, he was now also the top military commander of all the bases - at least on paper, even if not so much in reality.   
  
He had been away for almost three weeks, looking at problems and issues on all the new colony worlds. It had not yet been a month since the group of refugees had split up and moved out to the ten base worlds, and there was an enormous amount of work to be done. For instance, the Council's planet, Primo, was the only one that came even close to having enough housing for its population.  
  
Hammond was shocked, angry, and bitterly disappointed to hear about the massacre and swore to get to the bottom of the matter. He told O'Neill and the others to make discrete inquiries at their own bases, but cautioned against any action until they had all the facts.   
  
It was, however, a very tense meeting with the Council that day, as none of them could imagine their complete innocence.  
  


* * *

A few days later, O’Neill, Hammond, and the others had collected enough information to be fairly sure of what had happened, and who was responsible. Together with Lohkak, they would be able to prove what had happened and also that some of the members of the Council had ordered it and that their elite unit had carried out the deed. After much deliberation, the Council had voted in favour of concealing what had happened.   
  
However, given the current situation, nothing would likely come of it. The Council would keep their power, probably deny everything, perhaps punish some scapegoat, and in any case have O'Neill and everyone else who knew about it killed. Then they could go on to commit other atrocities.  
  
Another way to stop them had to be found.  
  
"If this was on Chulak, I would kill the offenders," Teal'c said.  
  
"Jolinar agrees with that solution, but that's not legal on Earth," Sam told him.  
  
"No, but we're not  _on_ Earth any more," Cromwell suddenly said.  
  
"You're not suggesting we take care of this ourselves? Shoot the bastards?" O'Neill frowned.  
  
"Why not? It would solve our problem - several problems, actually, since they've caused nothing but trouble,” Cromwell argued.  
  
"That's true, but..." O'Neill looked thoughtful, but not quite willing to go this far yet.  
  
Sam bowed her head, giving Jolinar control.  
  
"It would most likely be the only thing that can save your reputation at this point. If you do not stop Kinsey and his followers, _now_ , then sooner rather than later others will hear of your peoples misdeeds. The Tau'ri will find no friends and allies - at least none you can trust. The Tok'ra would not ally with someone who is no better than the Goa’uld. The people on Primo may obey you, but they will never trust you - and they have traded with other worlds before, so sooner or later those trading partners will contact them. Your people will either have to kill them all - including the trading partners -  or the rumours of your atrocities run ahead of you. Killing everyone that goes to that world has its own set of problems, as that, too, will become known. It is, in fact, a very bad idea to establish a base on an inhabited world, for a multitude of reasons, but I have already pointed that out to you several times."  
  
"You have." O'Neill sighed. "As you say, you have made it painfully clear. But I must admit I am beginning to agree with you."  
  
" _What_?!" Daniel exclaimed. "You can't be serious! You're not  _actually_ considering  _murdering_ any of the Council members?"  
  
“Normally I would not, but now?” O'Neill took a deep breath. "I must be crazy, but yes, I am. I do realize it’s probably suicide, even here, but I can't let them get away with it, and I can't see any other way out."  
  
"For what it's worth, I'm with you in this, Colonel. I'll help you," Ferretti said.  
  
"Me too," Cromwell added.  
  
"I am at your service as well, of course." Teal'c inclined his head to him. "I believe it is an honourable decision."  
  
"If the man who witnessed the crime is present during their execution, he will attest it to his people, and it may be what is needed to make the people of Primo trust you again. Your credibility will have been restored. I will, of course, assist you in this endeavour," Jolinar declared.  
  
O'Neill looked thoughtfully at all of them. "Thank you... but I think this is something we have to do for ourselves. The...  _Tau'ri_ , I mean. There'll always be someone who would complain, if a Tok'ra and a Jaffa helped kill some of our leaders."  
  
Jolinar nodded. "I can see your point. Very well, it will be done purely by Tau’ri. How will you carry out the executions?"  
  
O'Neill slowly shook his head. "I cannot believe I am actually planning this..." He frowned. "There are 13 members of the Council - Kinsey as the leader, and 12 ordinary Council members. Usually, during our debriefings, maybe half of them are present, as well as up to a handful of Kinsey's other close co-conspirators. In order to avoid having to kill anyone innocent, we’ll have to inform them that we are coming to talk to them about alleged war crimes committed on Primo. We’ll bring the witness. Most likely, Kinsey will only have his closest confidantes present, and certainly only those members of the Council who were involved, but it could still be as many as eight or nine people. They’ll be armed, at least with handguns. We’ll not be able to bring anything heavier than that, so it will be difficult to carry out - especially since Kinsey's elite guard will be waiting outside. We must act fast." He shook his head again. "I do not know if it can even be done, unless we involve all the base commanders, and I do not know how many are  _willing_ to be involved, and frankly, I would prefer to keep the knowledge of this confined to as few people as possible until it’s over."  
  
"I’m more than willing to help," Ferretti said. "So are several others, I’m sure."  
  
"It should just be the two of us," Cromwell said. "If we're going to burn for this, then I would rather not have a lot of others sharing the blame.”   
  
"We'll be the scapegoats." O'Neill nodded. "I agree. I just don't know how to carry this out in reality."  
  
"Can you use a knife?" Jolinar asked. "The Tok'ra have access to Tollan weapon's cancellation technology. If you use that, only bladed weapons and clubs will work in the room."  
  
Cromwell and O'Neill looked at each other, then nodded grimly.  
  
"Yes - we've worked with blades before. It's...  _possible,_ " O'Neill said, sounding as if he was being reminded of particularly unpleasant things in his past.  
  
"Good. There should be such a device in the cache where we acquired the valuables we used for buying supplies. We shall go and retrieve it tomorrow, and then you can arrange for the rest." Jolinar concluded.  
  


* * *

"So you're claiming we’ve had everyone in one of the villages here murdered, and then burned that village to the ground, in order to get our hands on mineral ore under it? And this...  _Lohkak_ is a witness?" Kinsey snarled. " _Outrageous!_ "  
  
"The primitive savages did it to themselves, of course!" Samuels insisted. "No doubt, they regularly wage war on neighboring villages."  
  
"We  _have_ found valuable ore in the area where several of the villages are located, however if you had cared to check, you'd found they have moved peacefully. They all agree we need that ore, and that it’s to every one's benefit to let us have it," Nichols added.  
  
"Very true," Keffler agreed, smirking a little.  
  
O'Neill glared angrily at the pair which had tortured and experimented on Jolinar and so also on Carter. Soon, he would have his revenge on them.  
  
"Yes, the other villages moved -  _after_ being threatened by your goons, and learning about the fate of Lohkak's village!" Cromwell exclaimed.  
  
O'Neill threw a look at the small device that sat unobtrusively on the table beside his coffee mug. As soon as he pushed the small activator in his pocket, it would begin jamming every advanced weapon in the room. Realizing it would not be long before something happened, he took a moment to take in the layout of the room again, and note the location of all the people and furniture.  
  
There was the large table, of course, the one they had brought from Earth. Around it were twelve normal chairs, six on each long side, and then one, somewhat nicer chair, at the opposite end of where O'Neill was standing. Kinsey had been sitting there, but had gotten up during the meeting, being too agitated to sit still.   
  
Of the ordinary Council members, only five were present - Samuels, Richardson, Willis, Nichols, and Keffler, the last of which stood to the left of O'Neill, only maybe eight feet away. Samuels stood on the opposite side of the table, compared to Keffler - and maybe seven or eight feet from Cromwell, who was beside O'Neill. Lohkek was behind him, and O'Neill hoped he would stay there, as he would only be a liability in a fight.  
  
Yes, these people they could handle, O’Neill decided. The only ones that worried him were Wilkins and Jones, who stood near Kinsey, looking mean. They were very well trained, and members of Kinsey’s elite guard. They would know how to fight with knives and defend themselves against them - and they carried both a knife and a baton, aside from their firearms.  
  
"Lies!" Samuels insisted, angry at Cromwell's statement.  
  
"No, it is not lies! Your people killed my parents and siblings!" Lohkak shouted, angrily, suddenly leaping at Samuels who cried out.  
  
Keffler drew his gun. "Keep your dog in place, or I’ll put it down!" He glared evilly at Lohkak.  
  
O'Neill grabbed hold of Lohkak and regretfully pulled him off Samuels. "Sorry, you'll have to wait, son."  
  
"But he deserves to suffer!" Lohkak insisted, furiously.  
  
"I couldn't agree more, but sadly, there's laws against that."  
  
"My youngest son, and two of my grandkids are still on Earth! Primitives like this Lohkak don't understand the danger my family could be in!" Kinsey said angrily.  
  
"Listen, I'm sorry about your son and grandkids, but you did get your wife, your two other children, and five of your grandchildren off Earth! Most people here have lost almost everyone they loved and cared for, so I don't think you'll be getting a lot of sympathy - and Lohkak has lost  _everyone_." O'Neill pointed out, rather harshly.  
  
"So what if we killed the villagers?" Keffler said, suddenly, turning to his allies. "Who cares if they know. Everyone should be able to understand why we did it. We need the ore more than those stupid primitives need that village! Why couldn't they just have moved it when we told them to? Then they'd all still be alive! It's their  _own_ fault they’re dead."  
  
"You admit it?" O'Neill looked surprised.  
  
"Yes, why not? We need the ore to be able to fight the Goa'uld. The rest of these miserable people don't know any better, but we had a civilization, and we'll get it back. We'll get  _Earth_ back!" Kinsey exclaimed.  
  
"Fools! Don't you realize you're behaving just like the Goa'uld? How do you think we'll get anyone to help us, if we're behaving like those we say we wanna fight?" Cromwell shook his head.  
  
"Jolinar assures me the Tok'ra won't assists us, that's for sure. Not that I blame them!" O'Neill added.  
  
"And we'd care why? We don't  _need_ those snakeheads!" Samuels said. "We're better off without them. Who knows if we can trust them anyway, right?"  
  
Kinsey's goons, Jones and Wilkins, nodded, clearly agreeing with what Samuels said.  
  
"You're an idiot! What do you think you're own people will say when they hear about it? I don't think they'll  _all_ be so ready to commit genocide in the name of our planet!" O'Neill scoffed.  
  
"Who says they'll hear about it? Sometimes, there are things that needs to be done, even if the people are not ready to hear about it," Willis, one of Kinsey's strongest supporters, said, pulling out her weapon.  
  
Richardson, on the opposite side of the table, found his gun also.  
  
Keffler, Kinsey, and the rest of their group took out their weapons as well.  
  
"Oh, that I agree about." O'Neill smirked, as he pushed the button of the small device in his pocket. The weapon canceller on the table blinked once, signalling it was active.  
  
"Take them!" Kinsey yelled.  
  
"Surrender at once, or you’ll be shot!" Samuels said, holding his gun to Cromwell's head.  
  
"You cannot win - you're hopelessly outnumbered!" Keffler added, looking gleeful as he stepped up close to O'Neill.  
  
"That's what you think!" Cromwell smiled. "Your weapons won't work anymore -  _no_ advanced weapons will work in here."  
  
"Only these," O'Neill said, drawing his knife at the same time Cromwell did. They quickly evaluated the opponents - eight men, all together, likely only four of them with any kind of real fight training. It was possible - they had done it before.  
  
Keffler made a grab for O’Neill’s knife hand, but he quickly pulled his hand back, and Keffler caught only the blade. He cried out, crouched over and cradled his injured hand. O'Neill hit Keffler hard over the nose, pulled his head back, and slit his throat, ear to ear. Keffler dropped dead to the floor.  
  
Samuels had been holding his gun against Cromwell's head, and now tried to club him with it, when it did not fire. Cromwell quickly moved out of the way and hit Samuels behind the knees, making him stumble. Before he could right himself, Cromwell had grabbed his head and pulled it back, slitting his throat.  
  
Nichols panicked, and pushed Richardson aside, as he ran for the door. However, before he could reach it, Cromwell threw his knife, catching him in the neck and felling him.  
  
Furious, Willis, Jones, and Wilkins all rushed at O'Neill and Cromwell, who both grabbed another knife from their belts, as they prepared themselves for the attack.  
  
Willis reached them first, and tried to club O'Neill over the head with her machine gun. While she had some experience fighting, it was nothing compared to O'Neill, and he easily side-stepped the attack. He swirled and hit her hard in the stomach, then used his elbow to knock her head back, before he disemboweled her with his knife.   
  
Jones was upon him before Willis's dead body had even hit the ground. He tried to hit O’Neill over the head with his baton, but at the last moment, O'Neill managed to deflect the strike and it hit him on the left shoulder instead. The punch was still powerful enough that O’Neill stumbled and sagged. He allowed himself to fall completely to the floor, and quickly slit the Achilles tendon of his opponent. Jones cried out as the injury brought him tumbling to the floor. O'Neill took this opportunity while the other man was incapacitated, and stabbed him, twice, making sure he was dead.  
  
He gasped from the pain in his shoulder, and fell back for a moment as he tried to sit up.   
  
Meanwhile, Cromwell had finished off Wilkins, who was bleeding out on the floor. He threw a look at the two remaining enemies in the room - Kinsey and Richardson - who both stood at the other end, looking scared. They panicked at the same time, almost falling over each other and the chairs, as they tried to get to the door first.  
  
Cromwell grabbed his last throwing knife and sent it flying towards Kinsey, who had almost reached the door. It caught him in the back, and he fell to the ground with a gurgling sound, dying. Richardson stared at him and then at Cromwell, in abject terror, before he fell to his knees.  
  
"Please... I beg you... don't kill me!" Richardson beseeched him.  
  
Ignoring the cries for mercy, Cromwell bent down and retrieved the knife from Kinsey and dispatched Richardson cleanly and efficiently. After checking that their enemies were indeed dead, he went over to O'Neill who was still lying on the floor. Behind him, some feet away, stood Lohkak, clearly shocked by what had happened.  
  
O'Neill groaned a little as he propped himself up on the elbow of his good arm and looked at Cromwell. "Ya know, I thought the plan was to keep Kinsey alive so he could testify?"  
  
"Yeah, well..." Cromwell shrugged apologetically. "He's still got two more supporters from the Council, who wasn't here today." He gave O'Neill a hand and helped him up.  
  
"That's true... I thought that was too bad before, but maybe it's a good thing. We'll arrest them, and then Hammond can do a trial or something... for us, too, I guess." He looked ruefully at the many bodies. "I had  _really_ hoped I never would have had to do something like this again!"  
  


* * *

Kinsey's two remaining supporters - one of which was a Council member - had been arrested and put in a cell, awaiting a new Council that could decide their fate. The remaining six members of the Council had chosen Hammond to lead them. It was a job he had not wanted to begin with, but now when he had seen what could happen, he had decided to take it, keeping also his position as base commander of the Council world, Primo.  
  
The remaining about 30 members of the Elite Guard Kinsey had put together had been split up and divided equally between the ten bases, which should hopefully keep them from doing anything too stupid. They had also been demoted to manual labour, and were under observation. If they did  _anything_ wrong, they would face charges of treason, immediately.  
  
However necessary the actions of Cromwell and O'Neill, and however much Hammond agreed with what they had done, they had to be punished.   
  
Letting them do something like this, with no sanctions whatsoever, would set a dangerous precedent. The choice of punishment, however, was something Hammond could take care of himself, as they were officially under his command. Also, here, on the run from their homeworld, and mostly under military command, his mandate was much wider than it had been on Earth.  
  
After some deliberation, he decided to demote them from their positions as base commanders, and reinstate them to their former ranks and positions. O'Neill was given command of SG-1 again, and Cromwell got a team as well. The guilt of Kinsey and his associates had been beyond question, and given the current situation, they might very likely have been condemned to death anyway. O'Neill and Cromwell had just carried out the sentence without getting the order - an indiscretion for which they were now being punished.


	21. Changes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam's brother, Mark, makes a decision he would never have done before Apophis subjugated Earth. Jolinar and SG-1 plan their search for the Tok'ra.

_November 10 1998, Amaunet's Jewel, the World of the Tau'ri_  
  
Mark stepped in through the door, feeling exhausted. He had worked five hours longer than normal, since Apophis had apparently made some sort of deal with another Goa'uld - at least that was what people in the office thought.   
  
Regardless, the result had been that they had been ordered to find a great number of slaves that fulfilled very specific criteria - so and so many blond women of a certain age, guaranteed to be virgins, another group of both men and women, who all had to be under 20, good looking (definitions attached), and with no body art or piercings... the list went on. It had been difficult, but they had succeeded - as proven by the very fact that they were still alive. One did not fail Apophis.  
  
"Finally! Mark - you need to do something about the neighbors!" His wife, Marian insisted.  
  
"Marian, sweetheart, not right now. I'm exhausted." He threw himself on the sofa that they had managed to find and carry home from a warehouse, only a month ago.  
  
"Sorry." Marian smiled, but then frowned. "It's just... I fear for the kids. For  _all_ of us, if they're allowed to carry on. I mean, I've considered turning them in myself, but you don't to something like that, you know? Not if there's another way."  
  
"What are you  _talking_ about?" Mark looked confused.  
  
"Have you forgotten? We talked about it last week, too!" She shook her head, and sat down beside him. "The neighbors - they're having that..." She lowered her voice. "Underground church."  
  
"Oh. Yeah, I remember. It doesn't concern us - as long as we don't know anything about it, and you told them you didn't want to hear about it, didn't you?"  
  
"Yes, I did, but today I met Donna... oh, I forgot to tell you, I got off early, because they needed the slaves for some sort of ceremonial dinner - some big-wig is coming to meet Apophis. We worked like  _crazy_ all morning to create  _all_ kinds of delicacies. Anyway... so I was taking the kids to the park, and there I met Donna... and you know what she did? She started talking about Apophis," Marian lowered her voice again, "and how he wasn't a god... and she carried  _on_ and  _on_ about it! And there were others that I think heard us. I mean, I saw a Jaffa, but I think he was too far away, but you never know about those aliens and their crazy senses. Oh, Mark, what am I to do? What if he heard Donna? I didn't speak out against her there, didn't want to fight in front of the kids, I guess, but what if someone  _heard_? And what if they turn us in?"  
  
Mark suddenly looked worried. "You're right. We can't risk it."  
  
"So you'll talk to Donna and Nick? Tell them we can't have that stuff they're doing in our decent neighborhood?"  
  
He shook his head. "Too late for that. We have turn them in."  
  
"But  _Mark_!" Marian looked horrified. "You know what will happen to them. Their  _kids_ \- they play with Lisa and William..."  
  
"I will ask for leniency when I report them tomorrow. Marian, it's the only option... and it's not like they didn't know this could happen." He put his arm around her. "I just want you and the kids to be safe. That's what matters."  
  


* * *

_November 25 1998, New Earth_  
  
Hammond and his temporary Council had chosen six more members, and with a new full Council, the base had been moved from Primo to New Earth. New planets had been found for all the other bases that were on populated worlds as well. There would again be ten base worlds, but they would all be on uninhabited planets. They could not risk staying on planets that were already inhabited, both for the sake of the locals, and for the sake of themselves, since many times traders and other travellers would come to populated worlds.  
  
The uninhabited planets were normally that way for a reason, and only half of the worlds they had picked could be farmed, or used to keep animals on. Still, it was enough to sustain them, if barely.  
  
More than four months had passed since they fled Earth, and after several attacks, unfortunate missions, and many moves to different planets, they had lost almost 100 people out of the originally 10000, and their resources were severely depleted.   
  
Food they now had in reasonable amounts, but they were running low on almost everything else; ammunition, medical supplies, toilet paper - anything and everything they normally took for granted.   
  
While they did have the knowledge to produce some things, they did not have the industrial capacity or the tools. They could mine ore and smelt it, but they did not have the tools and equipment to make it into anything more modern than what could have been made in the middle ages, and it would take years before they could move beyond that level, unless they got help.  
  
They could survive - probably - but not win back their world, or in any way fight the Goa'uld, and the longer it took, the less likely it would happen. Rebuilding a modern, technological society, would take many years, and the Goa'uld would probably find them and attack them long before that happened.  
  
They needed allies who could help them, needed them desperately. Technologically advanced allies. The Tollan had made it very clear they would  _not_ help. That left the Tok'ra. Jolinar and Selmak's people.  
  
It was time for the Tau’ri to trust the two Tok’ra among them fully, and allow them to leave and look for their people. Hopefully, the small Earth colony could find something to offer, and somehow convince the Tok'ra to ally with them, and help them.  
  
After some discussions, it was decided that SG-1 - now with Jolinar as a member - would be the first to go out and try to find and contact the Tok'ra.  
  


* * *

"Do you have any ideas where we might find some of your people?" O'Neill asked.  
  
"I am hoping not all the operatives have been recalled, and that there are still some undercover at various Goa'uld courts," Jolinar said.  
  
"Uh...  _Goa'uld courts_ ?" Daniel sounded nervous.  
  
"Yes. However, we will start with those operatives who are pretending to be minor System Lords themselves, and so will not have any direct superior - or at least not any that will be present on their world often. The Tok’ra operative will be able to protect us, as long as we do not behave foolishly. Then, if we do not have success in this manner, we may have to move on to those operatives undercover at small, but relatively, ah,  _harmless_ Goa'uld’s courts, Goa’uld with minimal power. Regardless, it will still be dangerous, of course."  
  
"Wonderful," O'Neill groaned.  
  
"If you do as I say, we  _should_ be fine," Jolinar added.  
  
O'Neill snorted, too used to Jolinar and her manners by now to get angry. "Why am I not surprised. Okay, let's hear your plan."  
  


* * *

There were some Tok'ra operatives, who would probably not have been compromised and recalled due to the spy Cordesh, since he would only really be focusing on those that were in the territory of Cronus, and Cronus's allies.   
  
Unless, of course, Cordesh was selling them out to more than one System Lord, which could certainly be the case. Regardless, Jolinar had to pick which one to visit first. It should be someone she knew well enough, that she could relatively quickly convince them of who she was. With a new host, that was always a problem, and the operative could not afford to risk going through a long process, while  _they_ might be watched too. There were some they could not go to, because their overlord was so suspicious, or their situation and position so precarious, that it could not be risked.  
  
That left a small number that could  _fairly_ safely be contacted. However, Jolinar decided to first collect some information about the planets they were on. It would not do to go and ask for a Tok'ra, using their Goa'uld name, only to learn said Tok'ra had been compromised - and had fled or otherwise been discovered as being a Tok'ra.  
  
It was slow work, but she found information about many of the operatives. All she dug up was negative - most had fled, a few had been discovered. It was depressing. A few she could not get any information on, and they would have to go to the planet in question, and try to learn about the world's leader, secretly. It went well, except for one time when they were almost captured, and had to hide for most of three days in a swamp, and returned with mosquito bites and leeches.  
  
"This is not working," O'Neill observed, unnecessarily.  
  
"No. I agree. It is time to move along to the operatives who are minor underlings, and who are on worlds that has a Goa'uld ruler. It will be more dangerous, but you need not concern yourself with that. Samantha and I will of course go alone," Jolinar insisted.   
  
"Are you  _crazy_? We're going with you, of course!" O’Neill exclaimed.   
  
"It is kind of you to offer, but going alone will increase our chance of success. It is more important than ever not to arouse suspicion, and in order to do this, I must go as a Goa'uld, with an entourage."  
  
"You think we'll screw it up, isn't that it?" Daniel asked.  
  
"I believe it will be...  _difficult_ , for you to, ah, behave correctly..." Jolinar admitted.  
  
O'Neill rolled his eyes, but he was getting used to Jolinar, and did not get angry at her this time, as he often had. "Then you better start showing us what you want us to do, because we're  _going_ with you!"


	22. Undercover

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In an attempt to find the Tok'ra, Jolinar goes undercover as a minor Goa'uld, looking for work at a Goa'uld court. The rest of SG-1 go as her servants.

_November 26 1998, Sifton_  
  
Jolinar was wearing a rather daring, but also very beautiful outfit, which hid very little. Sam did not feel completely comfortable showing so much skin, but Jolinar wore it with confidence, including the expensive jewelry and the golden hand device, almost too elaborate for such a minor Goa'uld as she was pretending to be. Of course, she was bringing rich gifts and a rather large entourage of slaves, in an attempt to impress the Goa'uld that owned the planet they were going to.   
  
Daniel was dressed as her lo'tar, and he hated his clothing almost as much as Sam hated hers. O'Neill was pretending to be a relatively high ranking human slave, only slightly below a lo'tar, and also a guard, together with Teal'c. He appreciated the fact that this meant his clothing was more 'normal' and covering, if still outrageous.   
  
Teal'c had been a problem, because of his golden Apophis tattoo, which was made up of gold under the skin, and so created a raised pattern, difficult to hide. Their solution had been to conceal it as much as possible, and then give him another tattoo, belonging to the minor Goa'uld Anhur, who had been killed a few years ago. It was well known that Anhur's surviving Jaffa had scattered, and now served whomever would accept them. Jolinar, pretending to be a very minor Goa'uld, who did not have her own domain, would not have a symbol to put on her Jaffa.  
  
Of course, since Teal'c’s real symbol was raised from the skin, they had been forced to give him one that would appear to be as well, though in reality the fake one was just painted on. He had been given a silver tattoo, that of a lower, but still highly trusted Jaffa. One now in effect serving in the position of First Prime, as Jolinar had no other Jaffa. The tattoo would of course not stand up for a very close inspection, but it would not be discovered under normal circumstances, so as long as they did not encounter anyone who could recognize Teal'c, they should be safe. Jolinar and Teal'c had agreed that they almost certainly would not do so on the world they had gone to, so they felt confident that would not be a problem.  
  
Jolinar stepped through the Stargate, followed by her slaves and personal guards. If all went as she expected, they would find the Tok'ra Tarvon here, undercover as Kevek and underling to Nemty, one of Heru'ur's vassals.  
  
Sam gave Jolinar a reassuring 'hug', as one of the Jaffa on guard, presumably the leader, stepped up to them immediately after they had exited the wormhole.  
  
"Kree. My Lord, welcome to Sifton, Lord Nemty's homeworld. I apologize, but I have not received notice you would be arriving." The Jaffa inclined his head respectfully to her. "It may be due to a miscommunication, but I must insist that you remain here until I can notify my Lord, and arrange for a proper welcome."  
  
"I am Lord Nafretiri. I have business with Lord Nemty, and you will take me to him,  _immediately_." Jolinar flashed her eyes and allowed her hand device to glow softly.  
  
*I still think you should have gone with the name of one of your former hosts - that'd help the Tok'ra recognize it's you,* Sam argued.  
  
*I do not know Tarvon well. The only host of mine he would have heard of is Arnora. As you know, she was my first host, whom I had at the time I fought beside Egeria in the very early days of the Tok'ra. I have used her name before, though, and it might be recognized by others than Tok'ra.*  
  
*Okay, well, I guess it's too late now regardless.*  
  
"Of course, my Lord." The Jaffa bowed again, then turned to one of his men. "Hurry to Lord Nemty and announce Lord Nafretiri's arrival." He turned to Jolinar. "Please, allow me to take you to the palace."  
  
Jolinar bowed her head slightly. "That is acceptable."  
  


* * *

The distance to the palace was not great, but they walked relatively slowly. Jolinar explained to Sam that this was because the Jaffa wished for the man that had been sent ahead to have time to reach their Lord and inform him of the visitor - and to let him prepare, at least a little bit, both to receive her in style, and to defend himself, should it be necessary.  
  
*Samantha, I believe there is something I should inform you of - something which I should have informed you about already. However, since there is no other way to achieve our goal...* Jolinar began.  
  
*What is it?* Sam sounded cautious.  
  
*Since the Tok'ra we are going to contact is not the Lord of this world, and since we are a completely unknown to the Goa'uld that own this world, we cannot just ask for an audience with the Tok'ra, especially not since we do not know with any certainty who he is, meaning we cannot ask for him by name.*  
  
*Aren't we assuming it's that Tarvon fellow?*  
  
*Yes, but it is by no means certain, given the circumstances. Asking for him and then having it turn out he has fled, or has been exposed as a Tok'ra, will not give us favour with this Goa'uld.*  
  
*No, I imagine not.*  
  
*Normally, we could afford to wait for a chance to speak with the operative alone, but it would most likely take weeks or even months before we are trusted enough that we get such a chance, and we cannot wait. We have already waited too long. The Tok'ra are obviously on the run. Cordesh is still free. There is no telling when he will succeed in getting a large number of Tok'ra killed, if he has not already. We  _cannot_ wait. That means we shall have to use other means, make it clear we have, ah,  _other_ reasons to wish to spend time alone with the underling. We will give the Tok'ra operative a secret code, which means he - or she - will react, ah, favourably.*  
  
*Um, are you saying we'll offer  _ourselves_ to him, and he'll accept?* Sam sounded incredulous.   
  
*Yes. The Goa'uld will not think it strange. A very minor Goa'uld, with no domain and no overlord will be willing to do almost anything to gain favour. That certainly includes offering our body, if it will help us gain a position. The Tok'ra operative will pretend to accept our offer, and we will get the chance to be alone with him.*  
  
*Okay. Makes sense. What then?*  
  
*We go with him to his room, and in the dark of the night, when no servants are listening, we can talk privately. Provided no one has cause to suspect us, of course.*  
  
*Meaning...*  
  
*Meaning we have to mate with him! Stop being slow, I know you are quite intelligent.*  
  
*Jolinar, you are  _married_ , I mean,  _we_ are married!*  
  
She sighed. *Yes, it is unfortunate, but there is no other way. Some servant would find out, if we merely  _pretend_ to mate, as they will no doubt be asked to check on us now and then. Martouf and Lantash will understand. If they are still alive,* she added, morosely.  
  
*Can't say that was how I'd imagine my first time, but I guess it doesn't matter... and Jolinar? Martouf and Lantash  _are_ alive. They  _have_ to be, or we’ll both be very unhappy. I'm not accepting that, not after all we've gone through these months.*  
  
*Agreed.* Jolinar smiled at her. *They are! They  _have_ to be! As for this being your first time mating - you do not need to worry about any pain. Most Tok'ra have much experience and skill, and whomever the operative here is, he would do his best to make it pleasurable for us. In any case, I will be in control since we are pretending to be Goa'uld, and if you want me to, I can block the entire experience from you.*  
  
*Ah... no. No, I don't want that. A skillful lover actually sounds very attractive, to me right now.* Sam admitted, a little embarrassed. Then she thought of something. *By the way... wouldn't the planet's ruler, uh, 'Lord' Nemty, be the more logical choice for our, ah,  _advances_... I mean, if we're supposed to be doing it to gain favours?*  
  
"That may often be the case, true, and we  _will_ make an attempt there first, however, he will not react with interest. Like many Goa'uld, Nemty will be weary of a strange, unknown Goa'uld. For all he knows, I might do it to get a chance to kill him, and take over his position and domain. However, what is most important here is that Nemty has... I believe you would call it a 'quirk'. He will not wish to engage in any sort of intimate relations with an inferior Goa'uld. He will only copulate with those who are his equals, or higher. Yes, it means mating with a Goa'uld is a rare happenstance for him, but there are always human slaves he can, ah, relieve his urges with.*  
  
*I am confused! Are they not even  _more_ inferior? Will he even be interested in those, ah,  _exotic_ slaves we brought for him?*  
  
*Yes, of course they are. However, most Goa'uld will not consider humans truly sentient, but more like... savages,  _animals_ , perhaps, creatures which can just be used to satisfy a desire.*  
  
*I see. Not really flattering.* Sam 'frowned' mentally. *Okay, so we go for the underling, and hope it's a Tok'ra.*  
  


* * *

"This way, my Lord," the Jaffa leader said, bowing to Jolinar.  
  
She barely acknowledged him, but walked after him. Daniel, O'Neill, Teal'c, and the slaves followed, the latter ones carrying the many gifts Jolinar was bringing.  
  
They stepped into the throne room and walked up to the raised platform where Nemty was sitting on his throne. Jolinar stopped at the correct distance and bowed deeply to the Goa'uld Lord.  
  
"My gracious Lord Nemty. I am Lord Nafretiri." She bowed again, then waved the slaves forward with the gifts. "Please, accept these trinkets as proof of my appreciation of your greatness. Also, these four exotic slaves are part of the gift." She waved the two young women and the two young men, all scantily dressed, forward. "I was assured they have been bred and trained  _specifically_ for providing pleasure."  
  
Nemty nodded, seemingly pleased, and waved the slaves closer. He pinched the breast of one of the slavegirls, and then the ass of one of the male slaves. The Goa'uld made a satisfied sound. "Very appropriate." He looked at Jolinar. "What is your business here?"  
  
"I seek a position at your illustrious court, my Lord. Your reputation precedes you, and I would like to benefit from your wisdom and glory."  
  
"Hm." Nemty smiled a little, obviously pleased with the flattering. "I may or may not have a position - but why would I give it to you? I have never heard of you." He turned to his First Prime. "Have these items taken to my treasury, and have the exotic slaves bathed and prepared - then send for Lord Alim and have him bring me the reports on the naquadah production."  
  
"I do have experience in managing naquadah mines - as well as commanding Jaffa armies," Jolinar said.  
  
Nemty snorted. "No doubt. However, I command my armies myself, and I already have someone in charge of my naquadah production. I  _do_ need someone to oversee food production, as I recently have acquired yet another world with abundant agriculture."  
  
"I would be honoured if you would allow me to prove myself in this position."  
  
"Perhaps I will. I shall consider it. Later. Would you participate in a small celebration tonight? I am celebrating the conquest of the planet Smolek."  
  
"I would be most honoured. Thank you." Jolinar bowed.  
  
"Show Lord Nafretiri to temporary quarters and see to her slaves needs." He ordered his lo'tar.  
  


* * *

"So, is this a good or a bad development?" O'Neill asked.  
  
"Unknown," Jolinar admitted, in a low voice. "It could be better. This 'Alim' has the position I was expecting to find Tarvon in, calling himself ‘Kevek’."  
  
"Couldn't he just go by another name?" Daniel wondered.  
  
Jolinar shook her head. "Unlikely. He had established himself as Kevek. He would not change his name, at least not without also changing his host, and even then it would be unlikely that he did not just make it clear he had been forced to take another host. No, 'Alim' is most likely not Tarvon. However, Nemty did not seem as suspicious as he would be, if his underling had recently been discovered to be a Tok'ra."  
  
"Well, perhaps this Tarvon fellow was just recalled to be on the safe side,  _before_ he was compromised, or because they suspected he might have been compromised. Couldn't that be the case?" O'Neill argued.  
  
"Yes, absolutely. The question is whether 'Alim' is also a Tok'ra - or if he is a Goa'uld. I do not recognize the name, but that does not prove anything in itself. I suppose we shall see at the party tonight." Jolinar decided.  
  
"Okay, I guess." O'Neill shrugged. "You don't think we'll be in any danger?"  
  
"I do not believe so. As long as you remain in your roles, we should be fine."  
  
*Jolinar?* Sam wondered.  
  
*I have no idea if Alim is a Tok'ra, but if my people were forced to recall many of the operatives, they would have attempted to place others - others with hosts completely unknown to the Goa'uld, either because it is a new host, or because the Tok'ra usually has not been on this kind of undercover missions. This would be a relatively harmless place to send an operative who is perhaps less experienced. This means it could be  _anyone_ who is here, if it is even a Tok’ra. I just hope it is someone I know, and who has a host I will recognize, or this could get...  _difficult._ *  
  
*No kidding! If both of you have gotten new hosts since last you met, I assume you'd have to approach each other  _very_ carefully.*


	23. Contact

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jolinar and Sam make contact with another Tok'ra - and it turns out to be someone Jolinar knows quite well.

Jolinar frowned as she glanced out over the room. There were no one here she recognized, among the visiting minor Goa'uld. She had made one - as expected failed - attempt to seduce Nemty. His underling, Alim, had not appeared yet, but she had not given up hope that he would. Minor Goa'uld working for others did often have much work to do.  
  
If Alim did not appear, or if it turned out he was not a Tok'ra, she would have to find a way to leave without offending Nemty - if he was going to offer her a position, it might be difficult, but she would find a way.  
  
*How  _will_ you determine if he’s Tok'ra, if it’s not someone you recognize?* Sam asked.  
  
*There are questions,  _codewords_ , which can be used. They are completely innocent sounding, should they not fall on the right ears,* Jolinar assured her, looking around the room again.  
  
It was a large ball room, richly decorated, and with large tables along the sides. The dinner was over, but there were still plenty of delicacies on the table, so anyone who might want more to eat or drink could get it anytime they wanted.   
  
The Goa'uld visitors were watching a performance by several slaves, who were dancing naked, throwing swords and fire through the air, and performing impressive acrobatic feats. All to the tune of music played by a small group of humans in one of the corners.  
  
Jolinar sighed. It was an impressive display, but she was not really interested. She just wanted this mission to be over with, wanted desperately to find a way to contact the Tok'ra. She was getting anxious to warn them about Cordesh, and fearful for the damage he could do to the Tok’ra cause as well as the many who might be killed, if he was left to go free for long. Most of all she feared for the safety of her mates. Were they even still alive?  
  
She took another sip from her glass of wine, then absentmindedly held it out to Daniel so that he - as her lo'tar - could refill it for her. She straightened a fold in her long skirt, making sure the slit was showing an ample amount of leg. She wore a dress that was even more daring than the one she had worn earlier. She had put on more jewelry - necklace, earrings, several rings, an anklet ring, armlets - all exquisite, and made from gold and gemstones.   
  
One thing she was  _not_ wearing, was a hand device, something that was unusual. However, many of the guests at the celebration had been allied to the Goa'uld who had lost the world Nemty currently celebrated conquering, so letting everyone wear hand devices might well have turned deadly. As it was, Jolinar was happy none of them had to wear it, except for Nemty, and probably his underling, as they made eating more difficult.   
  
Of course, it also meant she did not have any weapon on her, except for a hidden knife, and a ring which contained a needle and a drug which would make people sleep for hours. She looked briefly at the ring, and in doing to her gaze also found her little finger - the one that had been cut off some months ago. It had long since grown back, and now looked completely normal. A good thing, she reflected, or it might have drawn unwanted attention to them.  
  
She turned as the large doors at the end of the room opened again, and a young man entered, clearly a Goa’uld, followed by another man who was probably his lo'tar. The man was dressed in expensive clothes, but obviously less expensive than what Nemty wore. It was clear this was Nemty’s underling, Alim.   
  
For a second, Sam and Jolinar both had trouble controlling their reaction, but Jolinar quickly forced her expression back into the neutral, arrogant one she had worn the whole evening.  
  
*Martouf! Lantash!* Jolinar was extremely relieved - and disbelieving, as she realized they were almost certainly 'Alim'. *For them to have agreed to take an undercover mission as Goa’uld,* She shook her head, *the Tok'ra must be in a very bad situation indeed.*  
  
*At least they're alive.* Sam allowed the relief to wash over her, surprised at the strength of her feelings for these men she had never met before. Her heart beat faster, and she wanted to throw herself into their arms. *Well, at least the part about seducing them won't be unpleasant for us, even if I suppose  _they'll_ not be too pleased to have to make love to a strange woman.*  
  
*We will make sure they know who I am first, of course, that should remove any remorse they would otherwise feel. They will grieve for Rosha, though, and probably for quite some time, as they loved her deeply.*  
  
*From what I've seen from your memories, they loved you just as deeply, if not deeper, but they will feel nothing for me. I'll just have to hope they can come to  _like_ me, at least.*  
  
*As I believe I have already told you, they  _will_ like you. No doubt love you, quite soon. You are beautiful, kind, and intelligent, and very much, ah, their 'type'. Yes, they will mourn Rosha for a long time, but it will not stop them from falling in love with you. Trust me.*  
  
*All right. I will.*  
  
They surreptitiously observed Lantash - for it was quite obviously him in control, which was to be expected, since he and Martouf were pretending to be a Goa'uld. After greeting Nemty and a couple of the other Goa'uld respectfully, he walked over to the table with the food, and helped himself to a plate of bread, cold chicken meat, a kind of dipping sauce, and some type of tuber-like vegetables. His lo'tar poured him a glass of the light fruit wine and then he walked straight to a chair that stood some distance from the nearest group of Goa'uld and their personal slaves.  
  
Jolinar remained sitting for some time, to not make it too obvious she had waited for his arrival. Then, just as Lantash had ordered the lo'tar to bring him some dessert, and more of the wine, Jolinar got up and slowly walked over to him. She straightened a fold in her clothing and made sure to walk with a slight sway of her hips, as she approached him. Daniel followed at a discreet distance - as his lo'tar he should be ready for any orders she might have for him, but not be obtrusive otherwise.  
  
Lantash looked up and at her, letting his glance slide over her, clearly appreciating what he saw.  
  
*He is  _ogling_ us! Hm, I suppose he is acting his role.*  
  
*His appreciative look is quite genuine, I know him well enough to see that. All things considered, it is fortunate he enjoys our appearance, though I am still going to chastise him later for his obvious appreciation of other women.*  
  
*Well, we are not 'other women', though he doesn't know that.*  
  
*Exactly!* Jolinar 'laughed'. *Do not worry, I am not being serious. I do not mind him looking at beautiful women - I do trust him implicitly, which is why I will tell him who I am as soon as we are alone, so he will not feel remorse longer than necessary for thinking he will have to betray his mates.* She inclined her head to Lantash. "Lord Alim, I presume?"  
  
"Yes. Who are you?" He asked, not very politely, and with an arrogant expression on his face. "I do not know you."  
  
"Not yet, though I hope we will have opportunity to get thoroughly acquainted later." She smiled invitingly at him. "I am Lord Nafretiri, and I expect Lord Nemty to offer me a position looking after his agricultural production."  
  
"I see." Lantash looked less than pleased at the prospect of another Goa'uld at the court. It would be one more obstacle to avoid when he was to report to the Tok'ra. He accepted the plate of dessert his lo'tar brought him, and cut into it with his spoon, then slowly ate the piece.   
  
"I notice you have chosen the fruit pie. I believe Sifton is quite famous for their apples, and I do find this pie quite enjoyable, do you not? It is almost as good as the pie they make on Achilles's world."  
  
Jolinar saw Lantash react, even if it was too slight for anyone else to have noticed. Achilles was the name of a pet panther Egeria had favoured before she became Tok'ra.  
  
Quickly recovering, Lantash ate another spoonful of his pie, then nodded. "That is indeed a famous treat, but not as famous as Achilles's mistress, who is a true queen."  
  
"She is," Jolinar agreed. "Oh, but the dessert is  _really_ delicious, and I would very much like to know how it is made. I do have some recipes of my own, which I believe would interest her people, so perhaps I can make an exchange." She smiled, then winked at him. She saw Lantash was aware she was Tok'ra, and that she had extremely important,  _urgent_ information. "However, for now I believe I may be more interested in  _another_ treat, which is right here before me." She allowed her gaze to roam over his body, then licked her lips suggestively.  
  
*My god, Jolinar, they're even more attractive in reality than from what I saw in your memories, and  _that_ was impressive,* Sam admitted, as they admired Lantash and Martouf's body.  
  
*And they are ours.* Jolinar 'smiled'. *Just wait until you experience their skills!*  
  
Lantash frowned, obviously uncomfortable and not happy about what he knew he would have to do with the - undeniably attractive - female Tok'ra who stood before him. He had mates - at least he hoped he still had mates - and he did  _not_ want to have to betray them, but he also realized there was no other option but to play along. This was a Tok'ra, and she had vital information. Information that could  _not_ wait. In the current situation there was no other way for him to get to talk to her in privacy, quickly. He 'hugged' Martouf, as they assured each other Jolinar and Rosha would understand.  
  
His decision made for him, he slid into the role and smiled seductively at her. "That  _certainly_ sounds interesting. Perhaps we could discuss it further somewhere else? Maybe in my chambers?" He picked up his plate and finished off the rest of the dessert, then emptied the glass of wine.  
  
"I would enjoy that very much, my Lord." Jolinar pushed an errant strand of hair behind her ear, reminding herself she was happy she had managed to grow Sam's hair out to nearly shoulder-length. She turned to her lo'tar. "I will not need your services further tonight."  
  
Daniel bowed and quickly left, throwing Jolinar - and Lantash in particular - a worried look.  
  
Lantash smiled at Jolinar, and stared openly at her breasts. The deep vee of her dress did not hide much, and he had to admit she had a very attractive body. He put his hand on her arm. "Let us say our goodnights to Lord Nemty, then we can retire to my chambers."  
  
She nodded, and allowed herself to be led to the Goa'uld Lord.  
  
"I thank you for a spectacular show and a delicious feast, my Lord," Jolinar said, bowing respectfully. "I will be retiring for tonight, but I hope there will be time in your busy schedule tomorrow to meet with me again."  
  
"Perhaps. We shall see," Nemty said, looking surprisingly good-natured. He obviously enjoyed being celebrated at his own party.  
  
Jolinar took a few steps back to a discreet distance, where she would wait while Lantash talked to his employer. He bowed to the Goa'uld, just as she had. "Goodnight, Lord Nemty. I will retire as well. I have promised this young lady I would show her my chambers."  
  
Nemty grinned lecherously. "Ah, yes. I see you have taken a liking to the beautiful Nafretiri. Good! I was getting worried you might be a Jaffa-lover, since you have touched neither the female, nor the male, slaves while you have been in my employment."  
  
"Oh, no, my Lord. I was merely waiting for, ah, the right opportunity to present itself. She is  _fetching_." He threw a hungry look at Jolinar.  
  
"True, she is quite beautiful, but not my type. Too exotic, though I suppose so is your host, so I would assume you have a preference. Well, as long as you do not put us all in danger by following your lust, then by all means, take your pleasure from her!" He laughed boisterously.


	24. Explanations and Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jolinar tells Martouf and Lantash who she is, as well as what her important information is. Martouf and Lantash grieve for Rosha, but are relieved Jolinar is alive. After spending some time talking, they make love. 
> 
> Warning: sex (het)

Lantash closed the door after him, then went to make sure the other exit was shut as well. He wished he could lock them, but it would appear suspicious, should anyone attempt to enter. He took off his hand device and put it on the small nightstand, then walked up to Jolinar and spoke in a low voice.  
  
"We can talk privately here. I have never found Nemty to use any kind of surveillance, but you should keep your voice down, as there are always servants nearby. Nemty will wish to verify that we are indeed being intimate, and not just meeting to plot his demise, so no doubt a servant will arrive to inquire if we need anything... in perhaps an hour or so. By then it would be best if we are mating or have already done so, and it is obvious to anyone." He looked sternly at her. "I very much hope your information is as important as you implied, as I do not relish the thought of having to betray my mates for something insignificant." He frowned. "Also, I would appreciate learning your name, as I do not recognize your host."  
  
Sam and Jolinar again felt a strong urge to throw themselves into his arms, but Jolinar needed to explain all of this first - besides, he needed to know she was Jolinar first, of course, or he was sure to frown on her for embracing him.  
  
"The information is important, Lantash, very much so. There is a traitor in the tunnels, one of the members of the Council. Cordesh."  
  
"Cordesh? That is ridiculous!" Lantash almost forgot to whisper. " _If_ that is the case - and I must admit to my disbelief - then why do you come here? Why do you not go directly to the base he is stationed at? There is nothing I can do here. I cannot send such information to my base, without risking the traitor eavesdropping or even being the one to read it. I would have to give up my position and go to the tunnels myself."  
  
"I cannot go to the tunnels, because I do not know where any of the bases  _are_. I have searched for a Tok'ra operative for quite some time, but they all seem to have been recalled. No doubt because they have been compromised by the traitor Cordesh."  
  
"You were lost?" Lantash's interest was piqued. "What happened?  _Who_ are you? You  _obviously_ know me."  
  
"An ashrak trailed me for months, after I fled my position at Cronus's court - which was when I learned of  _Cordesh's_ treason. Other things have happened, which I will explain later, but I will focus on the most important right now. Yes, Lantash - and Martouf. I know you very well. I am Jolinar of Malkshur."  
  
"Jolinar!" Lantash completely lost his composure. " _No_ \- that cannot be.  _Rosha_!"  
  
"We have often gone to Marloon when we could take the time to do so. We usually brought food and drink, and stayed for the whole day. You enjoy desert fowl in particular. Once, a bird stole your sandwich, and Rosha and I shared ours with you," Jolinar told him, in order to prove to him who she was.  
  
"Jolinar... it  _is_ you..." Mixed expressions of hope, relief, grief, pain, crossed his face, as he experienced several different emotions at the same time. He was deeply relieved and happy to have Jolinar back, alive and well, but at the same time he was hurting because Rosha was no longer her host - which meant she was almost certainly dead, since Jolinar would never have left her otherwise.  
  
Jolinar stepped up to him, embracing him gently. "Lantash... beloved. I am sorry, but I could not save her. Rosha... she was... she was too badly injured." She half-sobbed, as she hid her face in the crook of his neck.  
  
Still shocked, Lantash put his arms around her, hugging her to him desperately, as if afraid that she, too, would be lost to him and Martouf.  
  
After several minutes, he pulled back a little, looking at her, tears glistening in his eyes. "We will mourn Rosha for a long time, and we will always love her. However, you have been returned to us, our sweet, beloved Jolinar. We are very, very grateful for that." He put a hand on each side of her face and gave her a soft kiss.  
  
Jolinar returned the kiss, and then they again held each other close, just standing like that with their eyes closed, enjoying the presence of the other. Jolinar felt the embrace change almost imperceptibly, and she knew Martouf was now holding her.   
  
He kissed her, then caressed her cheek. "My beloved Jolinar. We have missed you so much."  
  
"My sweet Martouf." Jolinar smiled at him. "I, too, have missed you and Lantash. More than you can ever imagine." She fondly caressed his cheek. "You should not be in control, Martouf. It is too dangerous, when you are undercover. Still, I am grateful to speak with you, and not have to wait until we are away from here."  
  
"We know, Jolinar. Lantash will resume control in a few moments, but we have agreed it cannot harm anything for me to spend a little time with you, my Jolinar." He kissed her again, this time with more force. The kiss became more passionate, but then he suddenly pulled back a little, and looked embarrassed. "What of your new host, Jolinar? Is she... amenable to, ah, continuing this relationship? What is her name? We know nothing of her, save the fact that she has saved your life, Jolinar. Something we will be forever grateful to her for."  
  
"Her name is Samantha Carter, and she is of the Tau'ri. We have been together for several months, and are fully blended, so I can assure you she love you deeply, and is as happy to be in your arms as I am, even if she is feeling awkward and fear we wish she was not intruding on this private moment."  
  
Martouf shook his head. "Please assure her she is not intruding, and that both Lantash and I very much look forward to meeting her." He smiled. "Our Samantha and Jolinar." He gave them another warm kiss, then bowed his head and gave Lantash back control.  
  
He again hugged her to him. "Jolinar, to have you back... it gives our lives meaning again. You - and Samantha, our beautiful new mate. I very much hope we will soon get the time to learn to know you." He sighed. "I apologize, I realize Samantha has only just met us, but it is necessary for us to, ah, continue with the original purpose of this meeting." He blushed a little, not something Jolinar had seen happen often.  
  
She smiled at him. "We do not mind. On the contrary, we have been looking forward to spending time with you, including intimately. Samantha feels what I feel, so her only worry is for you, since you have only just learned of her existence."  
  
"You need not be concerned. You are our mates, and you are also very beautiful,  _very_ attractive. Mating with you is a very pleasing prospect for us both." Lantash smiled seductively at her.  
  
Jolinar felt Sam's relief, and 'hugged' her. "Good, Samantha is relieved, as am I - she had worried you might not even want her as your mate."  
  
"Of course we want her!" Lantash looked genuinely surprised. "We consider both of you our mates."  
  
She nodded. "That is what I told her - though she is relieved to hear it from you as well. One more thing. Samantha is... ah,  _inexperienced_ , and is concerned our first mating will be painful. I have tried to reassure her..."  
  
"I have a hundred years of experience pleasuring Rosha and you, Jolinar, as well as ample genetic memories from Egeria. You can assure Samantha that I will be very sure to make this an enjoyable experience for her," Lantash said, confidently. He took her hands. "Now, come, and let me show you how much we have missed you..."  
  
He pulled her towards the bed, and she happily followed. Lantash quickly threw the blankets aside, and turned to grab Jolinar and pull her down on the bed with her, when she stopped him, remembering something.  
  
"I just need to remove these..." She fiddled with her belt, and pulled a long, flexible knife from it, putting it down on the table. Then she removed the ring with the tranquilizer needle in it, and put it down beside the knife. She smiled at him. " _Now_ you may safely woo me."  
  
"Good - and I should have expected you to have a weapon or two hidden somewhere." He winked at her, then pulled her to him, and threw his arms around her, kissing her deeply.  
  
Jolinar returned the kiss, sliding her hand to his neck and finding the best spot to pleasure Lantash directly. He made a hoarse sound, and thrust against her, beginning to rip at her clothing.  
  
"Careful, sweetie." Jolinar grabbed his hands, and quickly took a step back. "You'll rip these clothes if you continue like that, and I don't feel like walking to my chambers in rags!"  
  
"I'll have others sent for." He pulled her to him again and kissed her passionately, sliding a hand along her side and up to her breast. "It has been so long, my love. We had feared you lost to us. To have you back..." He swallowed. "I will admit... restraint does not come easily to us right now."  
  
He kissed her again, as he began to caress her breast through the thin material of Jolinar's dress. He slowly rubbed his thumb over her left nipple, feeling it harden. Jolinar moaned into his mouth, as he pushed the dress aside and slipped his hand under it, fondling her breast directly.  
  
"Mmm,  _Lantash_..." Jolinar groaned softly as his lips moved from her mouth, down to her ear, then down to her neck, finding a sensitive spot which he sucked, then licked with his tongue.  
  
While continuing this assault with his mouth, he fumbled with her belt, and got it off. The upper part of her dress could easily be pushed off her shoulders, and a hard tug from him - followed by a slight ripping sound - made her dress come off completely. Jolinar now stood before him, wearing only panties, a bra, and sandals. Lantash smiled and held her out from him, looking appreciatively at her body. "You are  _beautiful_ my Jolinar and Samantha!"  
  
"Thank you. You do not look so bad either, my love." Jolinar smiled, deciding not to care about her ripped clothing, as she again admired him. He wore a short, Egyptian style tunic, made of very fine, thin, richly decorated linen and a leather belt with a golden clasp. His legs were bare, and on his feet were sandals, made from thin, soft leather strips. Fortunately, he wore no headpiece, as he was not the Lord of this planet, but aside from the hand device he had taken off earlier, he did wear jewelry - several armrings, a couple finger rings, and a thick gold necklace. He also wore the typical Egyptian makeup - black kohl eyeliner, and blue-green eye shadow. "I think I would prefer you  _without_ the makeup, though - and right now less clothing would be good as well..." She unclasped his belt and let it fall to the floor, before pulling his tunic over his head and throwing it on a chair.  
  
Jolinar immediately leaned in and began kissing and sucking on Lantash's nipples, sliding her hands over his chest, up over his shoulders, and to his neck, where she began pleasuring him more directly as well.  
  
Lantash closed his eyes for a moment, and just enjoyed her ministrations, before he grabbed her bra and pulled it over her head, not wasting any time with attempting to figure out how to open it. Stepping out of his own sandals, he quickly pulled down Jolinar’s panties, and then his own underpants, before pushing her down on the bed, following her. She giggled and kicked her sandals off, not caring what they hit.  
  
She wrapped her legs around him and pulled him to her, rubbing herself against him and kissing him deeply. She returned a hand to his neck, and continued pleasuring him, accelerating his desire.  
  
He groaned as he felt his thoughts cloud with lust, and his control slipping. He slid a hand to Jolinar's neck, and returned the favour, making her moan. Lantash was very close to just thrust into her and take her with abandon, and his mate's sounds of pleasure was not making it easier for him. Eventually, Martouf managed to clear his head long enough to call out to Lantash, reminding him to make sure their new mate was ready.  
  
Lantash gave Jolinar a few more drugging kisses, before he succeeded in pulling himself away a little.  
  
"Jolinar..." He took a deep breath to try and steady himself, and not press himself against her again. "You... are  _naughty_ ... you should not... tease us so." He swallowed as he saw the heat in her gaze. "All I want... is to kiss you... until we're both out of air.  _Pound_ into you, take you and give in... to this burning need for you."  
  
"Sorry. I have missed you very much, and I forgot myself." Jolinar looked bashful, but smiled a moment later again, as Sam assured her she had been caught up in Jolinar's arousal, and would not have minded if they had just carried on. "Samantha says she would like us to continue..." She looked at him with a mischievous glint in her eyes. "I would also like that very much... I  _want_ you very much, beloveds."  
  
"And you shall have us." Lantash grinned. “Let me just remove these...” He took off his finger rings, not wanting to risk them injuring her, then crawled down between her legs. "There is just a small thing I need to do..."  
  
He used his fingers to spread her folds, and began licking gently over her clit. Jolinar moaned and arched her back, trying to push herself harder against him. Lantash grinned and continued pleasuring her, sucking and licking, increasing the speed and pressure a little, then decreasing it, when she got too close to coming.   
  
The sounds from Jolinar were getting more desperate, and Lantash was almost at the edge of his own control as well. He was rubbing himself against the sheets under him in an attempt to get relief from the ache in his shaft, but he knew the only thing that would help right now would be the feel of Jolinar and Samantha's pussy enveloping his cock.  
  
Giving in to Jolinar demands that he let her come, and Martouf's begging for release for them as well, he flicked his tongue quickly over Jolinar's clit, then sucked hard on it, making her cry out as her climax hit. Lantash did not give her time to come down from her orgasm, and slid into her, thrusting hard. He groaned deeply at how warm, wet, and tight she was, but fought to keep still and let her get used to the feeling. Jolinar gasped from the brief pain, blocking it almost before Sam could feel it. Moments later, they both forgot it in the heat of their arousal, and Sam urged Jolinar to push herself against Lantash, pull him closer, or do  _something_ to make him start moving.  Now, or else give  _her_ control!   
  
Jolinar grinned as she pulled Lantash closer, kissing him deeply. She rubbed shamelessly against him as she whispered into his ear, "Samantha and I both need you to fuck us, sweethearts... we want to feel your passion..." She squeezed his cock with her vagina, and used her hand on his neck at the same time.  
  
Lantash made a hoarse sound, and his eyes flashed, as he started moving thrusting into her. He moved slowly at first, pulling almost all the way out before entering her again, over and over again. Jolinar met each of his thrusts, and slowly the rhythm became faster, harder. Her climax was again approaching rapidly.   
  
Lantash rammed into her hard, now focusing only on his own sensations. It took only a few more thrusts before he cried out, coming deep inside her. Jolinar writhed under him, caught in the throes of her own climax, her moans echoing both her own and Sam's.  
  
They had only just started to recover from their powerful orgasms, when a door opened and a somewhat nervous voice spoke, "Do either of you wish me to bring you anything?"  
  
Lantash pulled himself up enough to look at the slave. He glared at him, annoyed to be disturbed at a time like this.   
  
" _No_! Leave us  _immediately_ , and do not return until I call for you, or you will regret ever being born!" He exclaimed.  
  
The slave fled with a faint, "Yes, my Lord. Sorry, my Lord."  
  
When the door had closed behind the man, Jolinar pulled Lantash to her, and kissed him. "Annoying as his interruption was, I assume this means we have proven to Nemty that we did indeed meet to mate, and not to conspire -  _and_ there should be no further interruptions tonight."  
  
Lantash sighed deeply, then nodded. "Very true." He smiled, pushing the irritation aside and focusing on the beautiful woman in his bed. "Martouf and I have some ideas for further activities - if you and Samantha are willing?"  
  
Jolinar giggled as she felt his shaft grow inside her again. "I almost forgot what an appetite - and stamina - the two of you have for these kind of activities." She gave him a kiss. "Give us a moment to relax - and then we will be quite willing to indulge you."  
  
"Of course, my loves." Lantash said, slowly caressing one of her nipples. He laid down beside her, and pulled her to him. "We shall relax together, for a little while, then we will mate again."  
  


* * *

"My sweet beloveds," Jolinar murmured as she kissed Martouf and Lantash. Whomever was in control, made a sleepy sound, and Jolinar grinned, addressing her host. *Should we wake them up with a surprise?*  
  
*Sounds good to me,* Sam agreed, enthusiastically. *They truly are  _very_ attractive!* She hungrily looked at the body of their sleeping mates, glad they had not found the time to turn out the light in the room.  
  
Jolinar gently caressed their chest, slowly sliding her hands further down, until she got to their already semi-erect manhood. She smiled to herself as she moved as carefully as possible, so as not to wake them up, then leaning in to place a kiss at the top of their shaft. It jerked a little, and Jolinar gave it a lick, then opened her mouth and took just the head inside.  
  
She sucked lightly as she twirled her tongue around the head, then began sliding down further. Martouf - and it was now obvious it was him in control - made a soft sound and bucked his hips upwards. Jolinar put her hands on his hips to keep him still, and increased the pressure with her mouth, slowly sliding a little further down, then up, then down, repeating a few times.   
  
Martouf groaned deeply and awoke completely, sitting half-way up and looking at Jolinar. He looked confused for a second, then smiled widely. "Jolinar! Oh! You're... very ta... lented," he managed. "You've always... been... Ah... yeesss..." He closed his eyes and lay back down. "Pl... please,  _continue_..."  
  
Jolinar chuckled a little around his cock, then continued pleasuring him. She really ought to remind him that he should let Lantash be in control when they were undercover, but Lantash was a somewhat heavy sleeper, so Martouf was usually the easier of the two to wake up. If the situation had been dangerous, or someone else had been present, Martouf would have awakened Lantash immediately and he would have taken control, she knew that.   
  
She focused on her pleasant task, enjoying how his moans increased. She was getting very turned on herself, and Sam was urging her to do something about it. Jolinar began touching herself, but soon decided she needed to feel something inside her. She had originally wanted to bring Martouf and Lantash to completion with her mouth this time, but that would have to wait.  
  
Her decision made, she let go of Martouf's cock with a wet pop, and gave it a kiss on the tip. It was very hard, and reached up for an impressive length.   
  
Martouf had only just started to complain, when Jolinar quickly straddled him and let herself sink down over his shaft. He let out a deep groan as she wriggled a little and settled herself against him. For a few moments she just sat there, enjoying the feeling of complete fullness, before she started to ride him, slowly at first. He grabbed her hips almost immediately, and tried to pull her down faster, at the same time as he thrust upwards to meet her.  
  
"Patience, my love!" Jolinar scolded mildly, but did indulge him by increasing her speed a little.   
  
Martouf swallowed, but let go of her hips, and allowed her to set the rhythm and speed. She closed her eyes as she continued rocking against him, then suddenly gasped and opened her eyes as Martouf began pleasuring her with his fingers, stroking her clit very skillfully. He caught her gaze and gave her a naughty smile. Jolinar moaned and changed her movements, pressing herself down harder,  _faster_. She was quickly spiralling towards climax.  
  
A few moments later, Martouf's eyes flashed, making it clear Lantash was awake and had taken control. He grabbed her hips and rolled them over, beginning to pound into her. Jolinar was too close to orgasm to even pretend to complain, and just squealed in surprise. It took very few thrusts before Jolinar came, moaning loudly and pulling Lantash closer to her, wrapping her legs around him. He gasped as her pussy contracted around his cock, and pumped hard into her one more time, before spilling his seed inside her.   
  
Some time later, they had recovered enough to be able to roll over on the side and snuggle together closely. Lantash pulled a blanket over them and kissed Jolinar's neck. "We love you, sweethearts. Sleep now." He kissed her again, before falling asleep.  



	25. Escape From Sifton

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Using a Teltac, Sam/Jolinar, Martouf/Lantash, Jack O'Neill, Daniel Jackson, and Teal'c escape from Sifton.

_November 30 1998, Sifton_  
  
Nemty decided to let Jolinar - or 'Lord Nafretiri' - begin to work for him, in a temporary position at first. Now they just had to wait for an opportunity to get away, and contact the Tok'ra.  
  
This opportunity presented itself much quicker than expected, and only four days later, Nemty declared that he was going to take his fleet and 'teach his treacherous neighbor Lord Khnum a lesson'. Lord Alim would be in charge while he was gone. Then Nemty had left, very quickly, leading them all to suspect that the war was not going well for him, and that Khnum would probably win the battle.  
  
After waiting just long enough that Nemty was too far away to be called back before they could get away, Sam/Jolinar and Martouf/Lantash quickly had O'Neill, Daniel, and Teal'c sent for.  
  
"Lord Nafretiri, Lord Alim..." Teal'c said respectfully, bowing deeply to them.  
  
"I have orders for you." Lantash began, as the door closed after the servants who had brought the SG-1 members to his chambers. He waited for a moment, listening to make sure no one was nearby outside.  
  
"Yes?" O'Neill asked, impatiently. "What did you want?"  
  
"Jack..." Daniel warned.  
  
Lantash shook his head. "Be thankful that no one else is here and can hear you - and that I am Tok'ra - or such insolence would earn you a whipping."  
  
"At least," Jolinar added.  
  
"Okay, but I don't see anyone else here. So, why  _did_ you call for us? It's not like you've bothered to contact us, or tell us anything, so we didn't know anything except that Daniel thought Sam and Jolinar had made contact with a Tok'ra. That's you, then?" O'Neill said.  
  
"You talk a lot, Tau'ri," Lantash observed. "That can be dangerous. However, you are correct in your assessment. I am Tok'ra. We called you here because Nemty just left to defend his empire - something which I suspect he will not have much luck doing. He put me in charge, and I would suggest we take the opportunity to get out of here.  _Fast_ \- unless you have any objections to that?"  
  
"Nope. No objections." O'Neill smiled. "Sounds good to me. So, what's the plan?"  
  
"We cannot go to the chaapa'ai without arousing suspicion, so we will escape by teltac." Lantash explained. "We will then travel to the nearest planet with a chaapa'ai, hopefully without being intercepted."  
  


* * *

Lantash had told them how to find Nemty's shipyard, and it had been agreed that they should all meet there in exactly two hours. It would be safer to go there individually, than to walk together, as someone would no doubt be suspicious.  
  
Now Lantash, Jolinar, O'Neill, and Teal'c were all on the teltac, waiting for Daniel to show up.  
  
"What's keeping you, Daniel?" O'Neill mumbled in a low voice.  
  
"If he does not soon arrive, we may have to leave," Lantash observed, worriedly.  
  
"We're  _not_ leaving without Daniel!" O'Neill exclaimed.  
  
"Believe me, I do not wish to, but it is imperative we get the information about the traitor to the Tok'ra, and I do not know how much longer it will be before someone notices that both Jolinar and I are missing."  
  
"Samantha suggest she and I can remain, and attempt to get Daniel out. The rest of you leave!" Jolinar suggested.   
  
Lantash shook his head. "We cannot allow you to risk your lives like that, and Jolinar is also the only one who has all the information about the traitor. No, if someone must remain, it will be Martouf and I."  
  
"It is no longer an issue. Daniel Jackson has just arrived," Teal'c informed them.  
  
They looked up and saw Daniel walking towards the teltac, trying to hurry while still appearing as if he was just taking a walk.  
  
"Hurry up, Daniel!" O'Neill hissed, grabbing his arm and pulling him on-board the teltac, as soon as he got close enough.  
  
They closed the door and Lantash ran for the controls. He had only just sent the signal to open the roof door, when a group of Jaffa came into the hall. He did not wait to hear what they had to say, but just accelerated the teltac upwards, and flew through the door in the roof as soon as it had opened enough that they could pass, if barely.  
  
"They will be sending khe'taks soon," Lantash told them. "We must leave the atmosphere before they catch us."  
  
"Deathgliders," Teal'c translated.  
  
"Right. There were a bunch of'em in the hangar," O'Neill said. "Why aren't they with, uh, that Anti-guy? He's out to fight that other snakehead, isn't he?"  
  
"Nemty. Yes, he has been betrayed - and attacked - by the Goa'uld Khnum," Lantash explained, absentmindedly, as he worked the controls of the teltac to get them away as fast as possible. "However, he left khe'taks on this planet, in order to be able to defend it, should he lose against Khnum - which I believe is likely. There are more than enough vessels to make life very unpleasant for us." He glared at a small display. " _Mai'tac!_ "  
  
"Deathgliders?" O'Neill wondered.  
  
"Yes. No matter. We will be far enough out to jump to hyperspace in a moment. It  _should_ be soon enough." Lantash threw a worried glance at the display, showing the deathgliders approaching. The smaller ships were more maneuverable, and faster inside the atmosphere than a teltac - but they did not have any capability for hyperspace travel.  
  
"Should?" Daniel asked.  
  
The teltac lurched as it was hit by fire from the first of the deathgliders, but Lantash accelerated the ship into hyperspace seconds later. They were safe. He spent a few moments checking the systems. "We only sustained minor damage. We have escaped." He visible relaxed, as did the others. "I do not believe Nemty will have time - or opportunity - to pursue us. We should soon arrive on a world which usually has no Goa'uld presence."  
  
"Usually? Soon?" O'Neill questioned.  
  
Lantash sighed. "J'Ohlak is an agricultural world, and the Goa'uld who owns it - an ally of Nemty's, called Segir - has little interest in it, except that he sends Jaffa to pick up its produce four times a year. I believe the latest pickup was about a week ago - at the party, I heard Segir complain about the less-than average yield he had gotten from it this year."  
  
"Okay, that sounds like - fairly solid intel," O'Neill admitted. "When will we be there?"  
  
"In a little over four hours, if all goes well. Unfortunately, all the closer planets would be too dangerous to go to," Lantash told them.  
  
O'Neill nodded. "Say... you're a Tok'ra... I'm guessing your name isn't 'Alim' - or whatever Goa'uld-ish name you were using, right? We haven't been properly introduced, so - who are you?"   
  
"You are correct." Lantash smiled a little. "My name is Lantash." He bowed his head.  
  
Martouf looked up, smiling wider. "And I am Martouf."  
  
"Greetings." Teal'c inclined his head.  
  
"Hello." Daniel smiled at Martouf.  
  
"Yeah, pleased to meet you!" O'Neill said, a more friendly look on his face. "So - you know Jolinar here?"  
  
Martouf grinned. "You could say that. She is..." He frowned as a warning sound was heard from the console. He double-checked a read-out. "We may have sustained more damage than I anticipated. I need to go and check."  
  
"I can pilot this vessel," Teal'c offered.  
  
Martouf nodded. "Thank you." He got up and let the Jaffa take the seat.  
  


* * *

Jolinar had followed Martouf and Lantash, to see if she could help with any repairs. They had checked over the damage, and replaced one crystal, the rest of the damage was minimal, and would not need to be repaired in order to get them where they were going.  
  
When they had finished the repairs, Jolinar embraced Lantash, kissing him. He returned the kiss, and for several moments they very completely absorbed in each other. Then Lantash pulled back a little. "Martouf and I would like to talk to our new mate, Samantha. Will she agree to that?"  
  
*Samantha? I know you wanted to wait until we were somewhere safe and comfortable, before talking to them, but there I think it would be a good idea for you to spend a little time with our mates now, and they clearly would very much like it. Since we have left the palace, there is no longer reason for you not to be in control.*  
  
*I know... and I'm aware it's ridiculous. I'm just... worried they'll decide they don't want me when they get to know me,* Sam admitted. *I'm not usually like this, as you know, but I've never been good at dealing with emotions - and... I love Martouf and Lantash so very much. What I feel for them... I didn't think it was possible to love someone like that.*  
  
*Which makes you more nervous they will reject you, since that would be devastating to you.*  
  
*Yes - and it wouldn't just be me. What about you? If I'm the reason your loved ones doesn't want to be with you anymore...*  
  
*Stop it, Sam! They  _will_ love you. They are already falling for you. This is that cursed Jonas's fault! He was an idiot for making you doubt yourself in these matters, and he did not deserve your feelings for him! If I could have killed him, I would!*  
  
Sam 'hugged' Jolinar. *Thanks. You're right, and I'm not going to let Jonas affect me anymore - and I usually don’t. He was never worth it.* Sam was quiet for a moment. *Jolinar, I believe I am ready to take control now.*  
  
*Good.* Jolinar mentally 'pulled back', letting Sam have control.  
  
Lantash and Martouf had waited patiently while Sam and Jolinar talked, and they now looked expectantly at Sam. "Samantha?"  
  
"Yes." She blushed, feeling annoyed at her reaction. Jolinar quickly controlled the blush, and Sam smiled at him. "It's nice to finally talk to you. I look forward to getting to know you - or, I guess I already do, but only from Jolinar's memories."  
  
"We very much look forward to learning about you, talking to you, truly getting to know you," Martouf assured her, taking her hand. "There are so many places we would like to take you. So much we would like to show you, and share with you."  
  
"That sounds really great. There's also a ton of places I'd like to show you home on Earth..." Sam looked down. "But I guess that won't happen anytime soon - if ever. The Goa'uld - Apophis - has conquered my world. Earth - that's the Tau'ri."  
  
Martouf nodded, looking sympathetic. "Yes, Jolinar told us you are Tau'ri, and I know it now belongs to Apophis. I am sorry about your world and your people. Hopefully, your world will soon be free again. I regret there is little we can do right now, but perhaps one day..."  
  
"We're hoping maybe we can work together? My people - those that escaped - and yours... errr... mine also, I guess..."  
  
"Yes, you are Tok'ra now, so we are also your people," Martouf told her.   
  
"I like that." She smiled at him.  
  
Martouf gave her a shy smile. "Samantha... Lantash and I would like to kiss you, if you will allow it."  
  
"Of course..." Sam flushed a little. "You're my mates - and you've kissed me before."  
  
"Not when you were in control." He entwined his fingers with hers and caressed her hand with his thumb.  
  
She nodded. "True. I agree... I guess we, um, should do something about that."  
  
Martouf leaned in to kiss her, and she met him half-way. The kiss started out gentle, and somewhat tentative. After a few moments, Martouf embraced her lightly, and the kiss became filled with emotion, as he moved his lips against hers. Sam made a small sound and put her arms around him as well, as she gave in to the strong emotions she felt for these men.  
  
She sensed a subtle change in the way she was held, and the kiss changed as well, and became more passionate. She knew Lantash was now in control.  
  
Several minutes later, they became aware that someone was standing in the doorway. Moving away from each other a little bit - but not letting go completely - they turned to see O'Neill, who had a wide grin on his face.  
  
"Boy, you weren't kidding when you said you knew Jolinar! Or is this how all Tok'ra greet each other?" O'Neill mused.  
  
"Jolinar and Samantha are my mates - and Martouf's," Lantash confirmed.  
  
"That doesn't seem strange to you? Getting a new mate just like that?"  
  
"It is part of Tok'ra life. Usually, when a mate gets a new host, the relationship continues." Lantash explained. "Host and symbiote love as one, so Samantha already feels what Jolinar feels."  
  
"Just like that. And you're just as happy with Carter as with Jolinar's former host? I thought the hosts mattered to you!" O’Neill said, starting to get annoyed.   
  
"They do. Very much so, more than you can possible understand." Lantash's voice tensed, but then he relaxed, as Martouf reminded him this man had only met two Tok’ra before, their Samantha - and Selmak - as Jolinar had explained. "Her name was Rosha - Jolinar's former host. I have loved her for 100 years, and I will always love her, as will Martouf. We will mourn her for a very long time. Samantha is a different person, whom we will love for who she is. That does not make the memory of Rosha mean less for us. Please understand that."  
  
O'Neill nodded. "Sorry. I was just confused, but I can see how it would be, ah, how things worked among your kind. I guess I just wanted to be sure you weren't thinking of Carter as someone you could just - well, use and throw away."  
  
"We do not. That is very far from how we look at her. She is beautiful, and from what we have seen and heard from Jolinar, both kind, compassionate, and very intelligent. She is a competent warrior and scientist. Now, when we have talked with her some more, I am very convinced that she will be very easy for us to fall in love with. I must admit, I am already falling for her, and so is Martouf. Do not fear. She will be loved deeply, for as long as she will live. More... she will be loved for as long as _I_ will live."  
  
"I can't ask for more than that." He smiled. "As long as you're all happy, I guess."  
  
"We are," Sam confirmed, looking at Lantash with an expression of love on her face.  
  
He looked back at her, and caressed her cheek. "Very much."


	26. In the Tok’ra Tunnels

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jolinar is debriefed by the Tok'ra Council, and she and Sam suggests an alliance.

They arrived safely on the planet J'Ohlak, and to their relief they found it free of Jaffa. Lantash landed the ship not far from the Stargate, and they hid it among the abundant plant life of that world, hoping the Tok'ra could return for it later.  
  
When they were about to walk through the active Stargate, Martouf turned to the others. "I will walk through first, and take you to where the guards are hiding. Since they know me, there should not be any problems."  
  
They stepped through the Stargate, and followed Martouf to where the Tok'ra guards were hiding. As expected, they jumped up around them, prepared to defend themselves.  
  
"Lantash and Martouf, welcome back. Who are these you bring with you?" Korra asked.  
  
"Hello, Korra," Martouf said. "This is our Jolinar, returned to us..." He indicated Sam/Jolinar. "As well as her new host, Samantha Carter of the Tau'ri. The others are her friends, the Tau'ri Daniel Jackson and Jack O'Neill, and the Jaffa Teal'c - all who fights the Goa'uld."  
  
"Welcome, friends," Korra greeted them, then turned to Sam/Jolinar. "Jolinar, it is really you?"   
  
"It is, Korra," Jolinar confirmed.  
  
He nodded. "Welcome home, Jolinar. You have been deeply missed, and were thought dead, as you no doubt have guessed. My condolences for Rosha - and thanks to your new host."  
  
"Thank you." She smiled, a little bleakly. "Korra... I bring important, and unpleasant news. Is Cordesh on the base?"  
  
Korra frowned. "He is. Why?"  
  
"It is imperative that he does not know of my return. You must go at once, with a group of guards, and arrest him. Then search his room, for anything...suspicious. I will explain later why."  
  
" _Arrest_ him?" Korra almost gaped at her, then shook his head slowly. "You are correct, and I am sure whatever news you bring are both unpleasant and important. I will do as you ask, of course."  
  
"Thank you." She smiled at him, grateful for his trust and friendship.  
  


* * *

"Please, explain everything from the beginning, Jolinar," Garshaw said, looking very unhappy.  
  
"I will," Jolinar promised. "Cordesh has been arrested?" She looked at the three Council members that were debriefing her. Garshaw was the only one she knew well - the others were Talek and Jassina.  
  
"He has, and  _this_ was found in his room." Garshaw held up one of the small long range communications device that had been uncovered. "When it was shown to him, he admitted his guilt - or rather, he accused the Tok'ra of several unpleasant things, then proclaimed we would all die horribly at the hands of the System Lords."  
  
Jolinar took a deep breath. "It is unfortunate. I had hoped his delusion was not as bad as I feared it. He has been making reports on our bases, and many of our operatives, for at least a year. That is when I learned of his treason - shortly before he betrayed me to Cronus, and I had to flee."  
  
"Why would he have done such a thing? He was a loyal Tok'ra. Always has been." Garshaw shook her head.  
  
"Yes - ever since he joined. He was not born a Tok'ra, but he became one, and I do not believe he has ever done anything suspicious before," Talek observed.  
  
"He  _was_ loyal, and meant his vows. I vouched for him - and he had pledged his loyalty to me before joining the Tok'ra. He was my vassal, before  _I_ became Tok'ra, as you well know. His betrayal - is quite painful," Jolinar said. "I do not know what caused him to turn."  
  
"The last mission he was on ended just over one year ago. He had been undercover with Kali for more than three years, but was discovered and had to escape." Jassina stated.  
  
Jolinar nodded slowly. "It is likely, then, that something happened to him during that period, perhaps some sort of brainwashing. Kali is loosely allied to Cronus, is she not?"  
  
"Yes, though I believe their alliance will soon come to an end. Our operative there has reported growing tension between the two Goa'uld."  
  
"Good." Jolinar sighed. "Hopefully, we will learn something from the interrogation of Cordesh."  
  
"Yes, that we must hope," Jassina said. "Jolinar, please continue your debriefing. What happened after you and Rosha escaped from Cronus? You obviously got a new host."  
  
"Obviously," Jolinar agreed, clearly unhappy with the casual way Jassina said this.  
  
Jassina seemed to realize, as she looked bashful. "Sorry, it was not my intention to belittle your loss."  
  
"Thank you." Jolinar took a deep breath, then began relaying all that had happened since she and Rosha had fled from their assignment at Cronus's court.  
  


* * *

"Do you have anything else to tell us?" Garshaw said, still looking displeased when she recalled the information that Jolinar had taken her current host without asking. At least, said host had forgiven Jolinar, and decided to remain her host. When she had taken control, she had also argued quite vehemently and without fear in front of the Council members, that Jolinar should not be blamed for what had been an act of desperation. A panicked reaction. Besides, she  _had_ carried important information to the Tok'ra.  
  
"Yes. Two things more." Jolinar smiled, a little smugly. "First, I would like to announce that Selmak was found by SG-1 - the Tau'ri warrior team my host is a member of. She was saved, by Samantha's father becoming her host."  
  
"Selmak is alive?" Garshaw suddenly smiled. "That is  _wonderful_ news!"  
  
"It truly is." Talek looked happy as well.  
  
"Indeed it is! Why is she not here with you?" Jassina wondered.  
  
"There did not seem to be a good reason to risk both of us on such a risky mission as it could be to visit several places that would  _perhaps_ have an operative. Now, when this base has been found, surely Selmak and her new host Jacob will soon join you here."  
  
"We shall look forward to that day, and to thank this Jacob for becoming her host," Garshaw said.  
  
"You said there were two things more you wished to tell us. What is the second one?" Jassina asked.  
  
"Something which may be of a very great importance. As I told you, 10000 of Samantha's people, the Tau'ri, escaped before Apophis could conquer their world. Their wish is to continue fighting the Goa'uld, as has been their goal for some time. Of course, their primary focus is currently on Apophis, and freeing their world."  
  
Garshaw looked solemn. "Understandably. We are all sad that the Tau'ri are no longer free, and we very much wish Samantha's people to have luck in their endeavor, however hard it will be for them to succeed, and however long it will take."  
  
"We are saddened by their plight, but why are you mentioning this?" Talek wondered.  
  
"Because they are seeking allies, and I believe we should consider becoming that ally. Currently, they greatly need friends, and we could help them much, without any great trouble for ourselves. I believe, that it will eventually turn out to be to our advantage, and may even be so now."  
  
"Jolinar! As much as their cause is admirable, and they have come far in the time they have been free, they are technologically primitive compared to us." Garshaw looked shocked.  
  
"Allying with them would mean opening ourselves up to danger. You told us they need us - desperately, even, I suspect. What would we gain from this, that could outweigh this danger?" Jassina demanded.  
  
"They have already helped us. They have given us two hosts, one of whom is my Samantha, thus allowing me to live and giving me the opportunity to bring the information of Cordesh's treason to your attention. That alone will likely save the lives of a great many Tok'ra, who would have otherwise died before he was eventually found out. We will again be able to place operatives as we have done before, instead of hiding in fear, and withdrawing the majority of our operatives."  
  
Garshaw nodded. "That is true, and while we are deeply grateful for this, and will happily help them in other ways, I do not believe that is enough to risk allying with them. Jolinar, you know the Council always listens to you. You were Egeria's first and closest friend. Your advice was as invaluable to her, as it has often been to us. But you must give us a stronger reason, before we can consider allying with these Tau'ri."  
  
"As Garshaw said, we can, of course, give them assistance," Talek said. "That would not cause us any great risk. If I understand correctly, they are already in a situation where the Goa'uld will kill them on sight, so the presence of our technology there will not greatly increase the punishment the Goa'uld will give them. If we make sure none of the Tau'ri know how to find us, then there is no danger to us, even if they are captured and tortured."  
  
"Yes, I believe the Council’s decision will be that we are willing to offer them technology, and perhaps other help, but more than that I do not believe we can offer," Garshaw concluded.  
  
Sam and Jolinar conferred for a moment, then Jolinar continued. "Samantha suggests we can share intelligence, and that their people can be of assistance when shock troops are needed, or when we need someone to pretend to be slaves. In addition - and this is not something that has been discussed with her people yet, but she is fairly certain they would agree, as it would benefit them as well as us - if we help them with technology, and mining crystals, then they can handle some production which is impossible for us to do, because of the visibility of the structures needed. They can also help us with some food production, if we set up hydroponics, perhaps, and they have cattle and chicken. They can perhaps grow fruit and vegetables for us as well. There are many ways we can help each other."  
  
Garshaw nodded slowly. "I agree. It is actually something which is worth discussing."  
  
"Of course, they do also fight the Goa'uld, so we share that. We may be able to help them with intelligence about Apophis, and about their world, perhaps even assist in weakening Apophis." Jolinar sighed. "Samantha believes it is likely there will be some of her people who might agree to become hosts, now when their medical supplies are running out, and they do not have any other ways of curing them."  
  
"Hosts would be more valuable than anything else, but we would still offer medical assistance in other ways. We can produce medicine and we have medical technology that can help. Since they are fairly technologically developed, and the Goa'uld will attack them anyway, regardless of whether they find proof of Tok’ra technology among them or not, there is no reason we should not help them in this way also," Talek said.  
  


* * *

The discussion had continued for some time longer, then the Tok'ra Council members had decided they needed to discuss it with more of the Council, and that they should meet with representatives from Earth who could make decisions about an alliance and what to offer. They agreed to work on finding a date and a place.  
  
Just as Garshaw was about to call an end to the meeting, a Council runner came into the room.  
  
"Master Garshaw, Cordesh has attempted to escape."  
  
"Has he been recaptured?" Garshaw demanded.  
  
"Yes, but unfortunately he was killed. Aldwin was injured in the process, but Gerim is healing him, and they will soon be well."  
  
"Gonach hasshak!" Garshaw swore, flashing her eyes, then took a deep breath, as Yosuuf told her to calm down. "It is indeed unfortunate. Now we will likely never know how much he has told Cronus and other Goa'uld, nor how his treason came to happen."  
  
"Very unfortunate, but at least no one else was killed. We must consider ourselves thankful for that," Talek said.  
  
"We should attempt to find information about what has happened, though, perhaps by sending  _two_ operatives to Kali's court. If she is indeed the one who has brainwashed Cordesh, we need to know how it was done, so we can avoid it happening again. However, sending just one operative puts him or her at risk. Two would be safer, I believe." Jolinar speculated.  
  
"I agree," Garshaw said. "We need to learn more. For now, the best we can do is move all bases and outposts again, to locations that had not been picked at the time Cordesh was killed."  
  


* * *

While Sam/Jolinar had been debriefed by the Council, Martouf/Lantash had kept the rest of SG-1 company in the Tok'ra mess hall.  
  
"Tell us, Martouf, how did you meet Jolinar?" Daniel asked.  
  
Martouf frowned. "The first time I saw her was in our shared quarters, when she and Rosha had just returned from a long mission. Why is this of interest?"  
  
"It's... just small talk, you know? Passing the time and getting to know each other. Besides, I'd like to know more about the Tok'ra, and since you and Jolinar are together... well, it seemed a reasonable thing to ask," Daniel explained.  
  
"Wait... who's shared quarters? Your and Lantash's?" O'Neill looked confused.  
  
"Yes - and Rosha and Jolinar's."  
  
"So you were room mates before becoming... ah,  _mates_?"  
  
Martouf shook his head, then nodded, looking almost as confused. "No... and in a way yes, I suppose, for me at least, though they were not on the base then."  
  
"That... doesn't make any sense," O'Neill insisted.  
  
Martouf looked distant for a moment, obviously conversing with Lantash. "I believe... I should try to explain. Lantash was mated to Rosha and Jolinar before I became his host."  
  
"Lantash had a different host when he got together with Jolinar?" Daniel asked.  
  
"Yes, for almost 75 years."  
  
"O-kay. So I guess you  _can_ understand Carter," O'Neill said. "Since, you know, you also kinda just inherited this relationship."  
  
"It is quite common," Martouf assured him. "No one considers that strange."  
  
"Why did you become a host, then? Were you sick? Injured?" Daniel sounded interested in all he could learn about their new friends, and - perhaps - allies.  
  
"No, not at all. Lantash's previous host, Nemura, was mortally wounded by Jaffa staff weapons, and so Lantash needed a new host. I volunteered."  
  
"Your people knew of the Tok'ra? Had they cooperated with them before?" Daniel wondered.   
  
Martouf shook his head. "The Tok'ra were on my world in order to try and convince my people to fight the Goa'uld. My planet had been free for several centuries, and was quite advanced. From what Jolinar has told me, somewhat more so than the Tau'ri was when Apophis attacked. The Tok'ra felt my people had a chance to win. Regardless, my people did not know of the Tok'ra, and did not listen to them in time. Nephthys conquered the world, and it is now much like the majority of Goa'uld worlds, with the people living as slaves under primitive conditions." Martouf looked distressed as he thought of the events that had happened on his home planet.  
  
"I'm sorry," Daniel said.  
  
"So, as you can see, I can emphasize with you. Perhaps, this time, we will find a way to succeed in removing Apophis from your planet." He looked up as Sam/Jolinar entered the room. "Jolinar, Samantha." He smiled widely at them.  
  
Jolinar smiled back at him. "Martouf, Lantash." She bowed her head, giving Sam control.  
  
"Hi guys! We're just going to grab something to eat, then we'll join you."  
  


* * *

Sam/Jolinar had returned quickly, carrying a tray with food and drink. After Sam had made short work of the food, Jolinar took control and turned to her mates and O'Neill, Daniel, and Teal'c.  
  
"I do not know if you have heard, but Cordesh attempted to escape during interrogation, and was killed," Jolinar said.   
  
Martouf shook his head. "No, we have been here in the rather empty mess hall all the time. Was anyone hurt?" He looked very concerned.   
  
"Aldwin, but he is healing well, and will soon be recovered."  
  
Martouf nodded. "I am glad. He is a good friend."  
  
"There is something else. First, and this regards all of you, there is a possibility the Council will agree to an alliance with the Tau'ri, but I am not sure if the Tau'ri Council will agree to it. We are to bring the message to them that the Tok'ra Council would like to meet and discuss it. Regardless of how that goes, the Tok'ra Council has agreed to give aid to the Tau'ri bases - both technology and medicine."  
  
"That's great news," O'Neill observed, looking relieved.  
  
"Indeed." Teal'c looked pleased.  
  
"What's the second thing you have to say? It looks as if it's less good," Daniel said.  
  
"It is. Because of Cordesh, all Tok'ra bases and outposts will have to be moved, and almost certainly all operatives will have to be withdrawn, or at least be on alert. It is a set-back, but had Cordesh not been discovered, it would have been much, much worse."  
  
"We will be moving soon?" Martouf wondered.  
  
"Yes, as soon as new locations can be found for the bases. It will have to be locations that are not on our lists, since Cordesh may have seen those. That means it will probably be a few days before the moves."  
  
"We will have time to pack all and not leave anything behind. It will be a nice change," Martouf observed.  
  
"Yes - provided the System Lords do not decide to attack soon. The lookouts are being especially observant, since the fact that they now hear nothing from Cordesh, may make them launch an attack."  
  
"Couldn't they just think he doesn't have the opportunity to contact them?" O'Neill suggested.  
  
"It is a possibility, that is true, but we have to be ready for all eventualities."  
  
"Okay, what about us?" Daniel asked.  
  
"Since the Tok'ra bases are being moved, it is deemed to be an acceptable risk that you know the address to this world. We should return to your home, and report what we have learned, as well as make the offer of aid, and the invitation to a meeting, with the goal of - hopefully - establishing an alliance between our people," Jolinar said.


	27. Cooperation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SG-1, Jolinar, and Martouf/Lantash go on a mission to Chulak, in order to gain information and learn how Teal'c's family is doing.

SG-1 and Jolinar returned to their base world, while Martouf/Lantash stayed to help the other Tok'ra move the base.  
  
Hammond and the only just elected Tau'ri Council quickly agreed to accept the help of the Tok'ra with thanks, and they also decided to seriously consider the ideas Jolinar had mentioned to the Tok'ra Council - perhaps, even, providing some hosts.  
  
Jolinar had been given the coordinates of the new Tok'ra base world, and she told them to Jacob/Selmak, who had been chosen as liaison to the Tok'ra. They left about a day later, with a message about the Tau'ri Council's agreement to meet - and a suggested time and place.  
  
The Tau’ri had been given a small box of tunnel crystals, both for creating normal tunnels, and for bathing and toilet facilities, as well as a compact system that could handle the air cleaning and recycling for a small base. There was also a small system for pumping, cleaning and circulating water. It was enough to set up a small tunnel system - a base - complete with a ring transporter. There would be space and facilities for about one hundred people. It was decided to place it on the Council world, and use it for housing for the Council members, their family, and staff, as well as offices and meeting rooms. If it worked out well - and it seemed to do so - the Tok'ra would provide them with more crystals over time. It was to the advantage of both sides that the Tau'ri had a safe, and somewhat hidden place to stay.  
  


* * *

_December 5, New Earth_  
  
Martouf/Lantash had arrived carrying the message that the Tok'ra Council agreed to the suggested time and date for a meeting, so the actual preparations for the meeting could start. He also brought what intelligence the Tok'ra had been able to collect on Apophis, and on Earth.  
  
Teal'c had finally been given permission to go to Chulak, and find out how his wife and son were doing, and bring them back to one of the Tau'ri bases if they were willing. The rest of SG-1, including Jolinar, would be going with him. They were hoping Bra'tac would be there, and that he would have information for them, to complement what they had received from the Tok'ra.  
  
As a first shared mission - and in the spirit of hopefully future cooperation - Martouf/Lantash would be accompanying SG-1 when they went to Chulak. Of course, Jolinar had already been on several missions with SG-1, but as Sam was her host, it was not the same. It was agreed that the Tok'ra would also get any information they could find on Apophis.  
  
Of course, it would not be a good idea to wear their BDUs, so they disguised themselves as traders, who were hoping to unload some of their merchandise on the people of Chulak, and perhaps earn enough to get by. Teal'c had suggested they bring a number of medicinal herbs, which only grew in warmer climates than what Chulak had, and which he knew always were popular.  
  
Martouf and Lantash agreed with the assessment, and also knew where such herbs could be purchased, since they did not want to spend the time picking and drying them. After a short stopover for valuables in one of the Tok'ra stashes, they went to the great market on Nirra, where they had bought food from Gehlak months ago. This time they all carried a zat'nik'tel hidden under their clothing, prepared for anything that might happen. It was one of the largest and most diverse markets the Tok'ra knew of, but it was also a somewhat dangerous place, as they had learned when they last visited it.  
  
This time, however, the trip to the market was uneventful, and a few hours later they stepped out on Chulak. They were immediately met by a small group of Jaffa guards, something they had hoped to avoid. Contrary to what they had expected, Apophis apparently now had the manpower to guard the Stargate on Chulak, despite the many Jaffa he must need to hold Earth.  
  
"Perhaps it's time for you or Jolinar to pretend to be a Goa'uld," O'Neill said to Martouf, in a low voice.  
  
"Wearing  _these_ worn and patched clothes? The ordinary Jaffa may be shocked enough by our voices and the flash of our eyes, that they will obey, but any higher ranking ones, whom we are certain to be taken to, will realize we are Tok'ra. That would  _not_ improve our situation," Martouf whispered back.  
  
"Ah, probably right..." O'Neill agreed.  
  
"Stop whispering, filthy humans!" One of the Jaffa said, hitting O'Neill in the stomach, then quickly striking Martouf over the shoulder with his staff weapon. Both men cried out from the sudden pain. "What brings you here? Answer me,  _quickly!_ "  
  
"We are here to trade medicinal herbs, good Lord," Martouf gasped, still in pain from the hard hit on his shoulder, though Lantash was fixing it. He picked up the large bag of dried herbs, and carefully swung it onto his god shoulder.  
  
"Medicinal herbs?" The Jaffa was about to hit Martouf again, when the Jaffa group’s leader stepped up and grabbed his subordinates arm.  
  
"Are you placed here to injure traders? We are guarding the chaapa'ai against invaders, not against harmless humans coming to barter their goods. There is a sickness among the human slaves, as you well knows. If these herbs can help, we should consider ourselves fortunate, since our Lord Apophis will not appreciate a weak workforce!"  
  
*Bra'tac!* Sam thought as she saw him. She almost laughed out loud with relief.  
  
"I apologize, Master Bra'tac." The other Jaffa bowed his head and stepped back.  
  
"Hm." Bra'tac took a closer look at the group who had just come through the chaapa'ai. Despite the hoods, he had recognized Teal'c and the three other members of SG-1 immediately, of course, but the group contained one more member this time, a young man. Presumably another Tau'ri. "Come, humans. I shall personally take you to the nearest market." He turned to his men. "Stay here until I return - and kindly attempt to do a better job in the future."  
  


* * *

They had walked some distance from the Stargate and were hidden behind trees, when Bra'tac stopped and turned to his guests. "Foolish ha'shaks! Why do you come here, into the very  _center_ of Apophis's domain?"  
  
"It's good to see you too, Master Bra'tac," O'Neill said, grinning a little. "We've missed your mild and friendly ways."  
  
"Tek ma'tek, Master Bra'tac. Thank you for rescuing us," Teal'c said, respectfully.  
  
"We were hoping you could give us some intel on Apophis," O'Neill told Bra'tac.  
  
"And Earth," Daniel added.  
  
"Hmph." Bra'tac sounded somewhat placated. "It was a dangerous choice."  
  
"Is Apophis on the planet?" Sam asked.  
  
"No, he spends almost all his time on the world of the Tau'ri. He has chosen it as his new homeworld. Amaunet is there with him, but Klorel has been appointed ruler of Chulak, something which he takes very seriously."  
  
"He generally remains in the palace with his guards, though?" Martouf inquired, concerned. "Or does he interfere with the daily life of this planet?"  
  
Klorel was young and inexperienced, and might do something unexpected, as the Tok’ra had very little knowledge of him. It was rare for someone so young to raise to power so quickly, and normally the Tok'ra would have had the opportunity to observe him as he rose through the ranks.  
  
"He has had some... rather unfortunate ideas about changes to the society, but he does not walk among the people, which pleases everyone. Apophis has this rather regrettable interest in seeing things for himself, which Klorel fortunately does not share," Bra’tac said.   
  
"Good." Martouf nodded. "I would be  _unfortunate_ if we met him."  
  
"I doubt he would care much about a group of poor human traders." Bra'tac looked closely at Martouf. "I have not met you before. Who are you?"  
  
"My name is Martouf, and I am a friend of the Tau'ri."  
  
"I see." He turned to Teal'c. "Can this man be trusted? If I am to give you information about Apophis, it would be most unfortunate if you had a spy among you."  
  
"He can be trusted, I assure you," Teal'c said.  
  
"In that case, I will tell you this; Apophis's success in conquering the Tau'ri, has meant many Jaffa have joined his cause, and many minor Goa'uld Lords are attempting to become his vassals, the stronger his allies. He is very strong,  _very_ powerful."  
  
"Could Earth... the  _Tau'ri_... could they rebel, do you think?" O'Neill asked.  
  
"They've done it before," Daniel reminded them.  
  
"That they may have, but I do not believe they would succeed again. I have become the First Prime to Klorel, so I visited your world with him about one week ago. Apophis has been very hard on the population, and many potential enemies among the population have been killed. Publicly, often, and in ways both cruel and unusual. The moral and courage of your people are strong, I know that from your team, but I fear they may have been broken. It seems unlikely a rebellion would succeed without outside assistance, at least if it is to happen soon. It is unfortunate. The Tau'ri could have been the hope this Galaxy needs."  
  
"Don't count us out just yet," O'Neill insisted. "Quite a lot of us got away. Many thousands."  
  
"And you have the power to fight Apophis?" Bra’tac wondered.   
  
"No, not yet, but maybe we will have. We have made some friends, and with their help we may yet succeed.  _Eventually_." O'Neill sighed, aware how unlikely it was to happen any time soon.  
  
"Who are these friends? I know of no one who is strong enough - and willing - to take such a fight," Bra’tac said.   
  
"They may not have the manpower, but they do have the technology, knowledge, and intelligence. Together... it might be possible." Daniel looked at Martouf, who nodded slowly.  
  
"Maybe. We shall see what the Council says. However, you must understand, regardless of their decision, it will not be a quick victory."  
  
" _Who?_ " Bra'tac repeated.  
  
"The Tok'ra," O'Neill said.  
  
"The Tok'ra? They are just a  _legend_." Bra'tac scoffed.  
  
"They are quite real. We have, in fact, met them," Teal'c insisted.  
  
Bra'tac looked impressed, but then his expression become more despondent. "Even if that is true, you will never be able to find them again. No one knows where they are. They are said to be masters of stealth. Besides, even if they are real, and truly are the Goa'uld resistance, they would still be Goa'uld, and I doubt they would lower themselves to helping humans."  
  
"You are  _wrong_ ," Martouf said, looking annoyed.  
  
"The Tok'ra can be trusted, and they are willing to help us. We do not yet know how much, but I believe something can be worked out," Daniel told Bra'tac.  
  
"Besides, it won't be hard to find them. There are some who are quite close." O'Neill grinned crookedly.  
  
"What do you mean?" Bra'tac frowned.  
  
Sam's eyes flashed as Jolinar took control. "Very close."  
  
Martouf dipped his head, giving Lantash control.  
  
He looked up, and directly at Bra'tac, his expression even more annoyed than Martouf's. He flashed his eyes a strong golden-white, just to prove a point. "I am Lantash - and we do  _not_ like being referred to as Goa'uld."  
  
"Tal ve'nu!" Bra'tac exclaimed, slowly shaking his head.  
  
"Believe it. We are Tok'ra," Jolinar said. "I am Jolinar of Malkshur."  
  


* * *

It took some time and explaining before Bra'tac recovered from the shock, and was convinced Lantash and Jolinar were really Tok'ra, and not Goa'uld. However, he readily admitted no Goa'uld would have agreed to dress like that, or allowed themselves to be treated the way his subordinate had done earlier. Reluctantly, he accepted the truth.  
  
When they had finished talking, and Bra’tac had also answered the questions the Tok'ra and the Tau’ri had about Apophis, Klorel, Amaunet, and what was happening on the world of the Tau'ri, Bra'tac was long since back to his unflappable self, and seemed rather pleased the Tok'ra needed him for information.  
  
"Okay, business is done," O'Neill said, when they had been told what Bra’tac knew. "Teal'c?"  
  
He nodded. "Yes. Bra'tac, now when the important matters are taken care of, I have a private question."  
  
"Your wife and son," Bra'tac observed.  
  
"Yes, are they well?" Teal’c asked.   
  
"They are. However, Teal'c..." Bra'tac looked somewhat uncomfortable, not a common state for him. "Understand that it was hard for Drey'ac and Rya'c without you here. They were ostracized and had difficulties acquiring the means to survive. Eventually... Fro'tac took them into his household. Teal'c, Drey'ac is now his wife!"  
  
"How could you have allowed this to happen!" Teal'c exclaimed.  
  
"Would your rather your family be dead? They were outcasts!" Bra’tac repeated.   
  
"I will kill Fro'tac myself!" Teal'c glared at Bra'tac. "I came here to take my wife and son to one of the Tau'ri bases, and what do I find? My friend Fro'tac has betrayed me!"  
  
"Quiet!" Lantash said in a low voice. "Someone is coming."  
  
They all quickly pulled up their hoods again, grabbed their sacks of dried herbs, and began walking, following Bra'tac. They had just turned the next bend in the road, when they passed a group of Jaffa. The group had been joking around and being somewhat noisy, but quickly straightened up and greeted Bra'tac respectfully, before continuing past SG-1's group.  
  
"That was close!" Daniel observed, when the Jaffa was outside hearing range.  
  
"Yeah, good thing one of us was paying attention - and has a  _damn_ good hearing!" O'Neill smiled at Lantash.  



	28. Unexpected Revenge - and a Farewell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Teal'c meets his family - and Fro'tac. 
> 
> Warning: Mention of violence and minor character death

Bra'tac led them to a guesthouse, and told them to stay there until evening, when he would come and take them to meet Drey'ac and Rya'c. Before he left, he called for some servants who took the sacks of medicinal herbs, in order to bring them to those that needed them. It turned out there was indeed a sickness among many of the humans of Chulak, and that the particular herbs they had brought were some that were often used to treat this particular disease.  
  
SG-1, Jolinar, and Martouf/Lantash stayed in their room at the guesthouse, while they waited for Bra'tac to return. They only went out to get food, and then only downstairs, where the guesthouse had an eatery. Teal'c had passed almost the entire day meditating, and the others had felt it was best to leave him alone.  
  
It was close to evening, when O'Neill and Martouf returned to the room with the bread and cheese they had just fetched from the kitchen downstairs.  
  
"Where's Teal'c?" O'Neill asked, as he and Martouf put the food down.  
  
"Didn't you see him? I thought he was going to go help you carry stuff," Sam said, frowning.  
  
"No. He didn't come down." O'Neill looked very concerned. "I'll be back in a moment." He ran out the door and downstairs again.  
  
Some minutes later, he returned.  
  
"Did you find him?" Daniel asked.  
  
"Nope. He doesn't seem to be anywhere."  
  
"Maybe he went to use the facilities?" Martouf suggested.  
  
"Maybe." O'Neill looked very worried.  
  
"What if he went to Fro'tac's place?" Daniel suddenly suggested.  
  
"Damn!" O'Neill exclaimed. "We've got to get there.  _Quickly!_ "  
  
"How? None of us know the way," Daniel said.  
  
Before they had time to decide what to do, someone knocked on their door, and Bra'tac entered.  
  
"Where is Teal'c?" Bra'tac demanded, looking from one to another.  
  
"We're afraid he might have gone to see Fro'tac," O'Neill said.  
  
"It's no more than maybe half an hour ago," Daniel helpfully added.  
  
"We must go to Fro'tac immediately, in order to stop Teal'c from seeking revenge." Bra'tac turned and left the room.  
  
The others grabbed their zat'nik'tels and hid them under their clothing, running after Bra'tac as they did so.  
  


* * *

"Drey'ac!" Bra'tac said, as she came to meet him. "Have you seen Teal'c?"  
  
"Bra'tac. Teal'c arrived some time ago, and we spoke shortly. He is very angry at me." Drey'ac sniffled, and dried away a tear.  
  
"Where is Fro'tac, woman? Tell me quickly!"  
  
"He is with Teal'c in the garden, I believe."  
  
Bra'tac rushed off, hoping to reach Teal'c before he could harm Fro'tac. Sam/Jolinar, Daniel, O'Neill, and Martouf/Lantash hurried after him, pulling out their zat'nik'tels.  
  
They all came into the garden at almost the same time, to see Teal'c stand over Fro'tac's body, that was lying on the ground.  
  
"Teal'c!" Bra'tac exclaimed. "What have you done?"  
  
"I had not truly intended to kill him," Teal'c said calmly. "It had spent much of today meditating, and had come to the conclusion that you were correct, and Fro'tac was not worth killing. I went here to tell Drey'ac I am taking Rya'c, and to tell her goodbye. We had only spoken for a short time, when Fro'tac came home, and wanted to talk to me privately. We went here and spoke for some time."  
  
"What went wrong, if you weren't going to kill him?" O'Neill demanded. "He looks pretty dead to me!"  
  
"Harsh words were spoken on both sides. Fro'tac had not only taken my woman from me, he insisted Rya'c should stay as well." Teal'c's jaw muscle twitched. "Fro'tac got what he deserved. According to Jaffa law, this was my right!"  
  
"Perhaps, by what will Drey'ac say?" Bra'tac said.  
  
"She can go with Rya'c and me, or she can stay here. I do not care," Teal'c insisted.   
  


* * *

Drey'ac had not surprisingly been shocked and unhappy at learning about what Teal'c had done, but she had eventually insisted that if Teal'c wanted to take Rya'c with him, she was coming too.  
  
Bra'tac had given them a few hours to collect some things and get to the Stargate, then he would inform the authorities that Fro'tac had been killed. It might well be Teal'c's right to do so, according to Jaffa law, but Teal'c was the traitor, and Fro'tac had been rich and influential. It was unlikely that many would support Teal'c, and very likely that some would think of the money they could get from Apophis by turning in the traitor.  
  
"You won't have any problems because if this?" O'Neill asked.  
  
"I will manage," Bra'tac insisted.  
  
"Join us, old friend," Teal'c said.  
  
"Another time, perhaps," Bra’tac told him.   
  
"Bra'tac, I owe you my thanks." Teal’c clasped Bra’tac’s arms as they made their farewells.   
  
Then SG-1, Jolinar, Martouf/Lantash, Drey'ac, and Rya'c stepped through the wormhole, going to a stop-over world before continuing to the Tau'ri base many of them would be staying on - New Earth.  
  


* * *

"Will you be returning to the Tok'ra immediately?" Daniel asked Martouf. "And what about Sam and Jolinar, will they stay here or go to the Tok'ra?"  
  
"That remains to be seen. We have only discussed it briefly, but I believe that if the Tok'ra and the Tau'ri become friends, perhaps even allies, then we shall likely split our time between here and with the Tok'ra. With the permission of your Council and ours, of course."  He sighed. "As for now, we have personal matters to attend to. Jolinar will show us where Rosha is buried, and tell us the full story of what happened to her. After that, we will be going to the Tok'ra tunnels, where we will stay for some time, at least. Jolinar has been away for very long, so there is probably many who wishes to talk to her, and much for her to do at home."  
  
"I understand." Daniel smiled. "Jack, Teal'c, and myself will be part of the group that goes to negotiate with the Tok'ra. I hope we will meet then."  
  
"It is likely." Martouf smiled.  
  
Sam/Jolinar approached them, followed by O'Neill and Teal'c. She was carrying a backpack, and a small shoulder bag.  
  
"Ready to go?" She asked, handing Martouf the shoulder bag.  
  
"I am." He inclined his head to O'Neill, Teal'c, and Daniel. "Until we meet again."  
  
"Farewell," Teal'c said.  
  
"Safe trip," O'Neill offered.  
  
"See you, guys!" She hugged Daniel, and slapped the two others on the shoulder. "You better be in that delegation when the Tok'ra and the Tau'ri meet to negotiate their treaty. There'll be cake!" She said.  
  
Martouf dialed the address, and he and Sam left through the Stargate.  
  


* * *

"Over there, near the small group of trees - that is where Rosha is buried. Sennok - the Nasyan man who became my host - helped me choose the place," Jolinar explained.  
  
Martouf just nodded. Both he and Lantash had been very quiet since they arrived on the planet.  
  
They walked to the place, which was marked by several large boulders, and a small flowering bush growing beside them. The trees cast some shadow there, and soft green grass covered the patch. Nearby, a small brook was bubbling.  
  
"It is a beautiful place. Rosha would have loved it," Martouf said, solemnly. He gave control to Lantash.  
  
"You found a red-patch bush, with large fragrant flowers." He observed, gently touching one of the leaves. "It was her favourite." He turned to Jolinar. "Thank you."  
  
Jolinar nodded. "It was the least I could do, having been unable to save her.” She sighed. “Come, sit beside me." She sat down on the soft grass near the water.  
  
Lantash sat down as well, and put an arm around her. They say like that long into the late night, as Jolinar told him about the flight from Cronus, and all that had happened since.  
  
It was a warm night, and eventually they fell asleep in each others arms, sleeping until the rising sun awoke them.


	29. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sam and Jolinar returns home to the Tok'ra Tunnels, and to Martouf and Lantash. 
> 
> Warning: sex (het)

Martouf/Lantash and Sam/Jolinar stepped out on the planet where their base was currently located.  
  
"Another desert planet.  _Really_?" Jolinar complained.  
  
Martouf grinned. "Yes, unfortunately. Uninhabited desert planets are easier to find than the more lush worlds, and we needed to find quite many, quickly, since all bases and outposts had to move. I believe only one outpost and two bases ended up on more pleasant worlds."  
  
"And of course our base was not one of them!" Jolinar sighed, then moaned as Sam grinned at her complaints. "Samantha is teasing me! She insists I  always> complain! That is not true!"  
  
"Beloved..." Martouf turned to embrace her, smiling, when the guards jumped up from the ground around them. "Greetings." He nodded at them.  
  
"Welcome back, Martouf and Lantash... and Jolinar and Samantha." Aldwin inclined his head in greeting.  
  
"Thank you, Aldwin," Martouf said.  
  
"There is no one else with us, so you can all return to your hiding places," Jolinar told him, then smiled. "I look forward to seeing you all again - I did not have much time to talk when I was last here."  
  
"Indeed. It shall be good to spend some time with you - and learn to know your new host," Aldwin replied.   
  


* * *

The debriefings took several hours, with the Council members present asking Martouf/Lantash and Sam/Jolinar to tell in detail all they had learned from Bra'tac about Apophis, Amaunet, Klorel, as well as Apophis's new homeworld, the Tau'ri. They also told the Council about what they had seen on Chulak, and what their impression was of its state after Klorel had taken over.  Finally, the Council was satisfied and dismissed them.  
  
They ate a quick dinner. The planet Rosha had died on and the planet their Tok'ra base was on, had their Starbases in areas that were at different times of the day, so here it was already early evening.  
  
"Come - I would like to show you our new quarters," Martouf insisted, taking her hand as soon as she had placed her tray with dirty dishes on the table for those on kitchen duty to handle.  
  
"Have they not been constructed like usual? I thought we had the specifics for our quarters programmed into the crystal matrix," Jolinar asked, not quite understanding Martouf's eagerness, but nevertheless finding him sweet.  
  
"The layout is...  _mostly_ like usual," Martouf admitted. "Regardless, you haven't been in the new ones yet, so they  _are_ new for you and Samantha."  
  
Jolinar mentally rolled her eyes, then leaned in an gave him a kiss. "Then let us go there." If this was because he wanted them to go to their shared quarters and celebrate officially living together again - after her getting a new host - then she would not complain. It was kind of romantic, and both she and Samantha  _would_ like to spend some more private time with their mates.  
  


* * *

"See? I finally convinced them to add that divan you wanted to the crystal matrix!" Martouf smiled widely.  
  
" _Impressive!_ Kohnak agreed to it? Or was it one of his assistants?" Jolinar looked, pleased, at the new piece of furniture.  
  
"He did. He was very happy you found a host for Selmak. As you know, he is very fond of her."  
  
"True, he is." Jolinar smiled at Martouf. "Thank you for thinking of this... I like the pillows and blankets you have added. It actually looks soft and inviting."  
  
"It is. Aside from the normal thin padding, there is a thicker mattress on top. Together with the pillows and the blankets it is very comfortable. Come on - try it!"  
  
Jolinar took off her BDU jacket and threw it on a chair, then unlaced her boots and put them in a corner before sitting down on the sofa. "Very nice." She pulled him down to her. "Come, sit with me for a little while."  
  
"With pleasure." Martouf put his arm around Jolinar and snuggled up close to her, kissing her on the cheek.  
  
They sat like that for some time, talking, relaxing, and just enjoying each others presence. It was good to be home again, and together.   
  


* * *

Lantash leaned in and gave Sam a warm kiss. "As wonderful as it is to sit here with you, Martouf and I were considering taking a bath. We would like you to join us, if you are agreeable to that?" He murmured, a naughty glint in his eyes.  
  
"Um, yeah... I think that would be... nice," Sam admitted, feeling a little shy at the thought of bathing with them - especially since it was more than obvious they wanted to do more than just  _bathing_.  
  
"Good." He kissed her again. "Just stay here, and we’ll go prepare the bath."  
  
Sam and Jolinar relaxed on the very comfortable sofa, as they listened to the sounds of the pool in their private bathroom filling.  
  
*It’s nice to just sit here and do nothing, for once. I think I'd like some vacation, though I realize that except for the last month, we haven't done much except sitting in a cell.*  
  
*That can hardly be counted as vacation.* Jolinar snorted. *Particularly with Nichols, Samuels, and the other idiots coming to poke us and try to get us to speak, whenever they felt like it. No, you are correct, it would be nice to have some time off, and we will get just that - even if it will probably not be more than a week or two. Mated Tok'ra always get time off when one of them has gotten a new host, so there is time for everyone to get to know each other a little better.*  
  
*Sensible.* Sam lifted her head as Martouf/Lantash came back into the room, then almost gasped out loud. They were naked, and she just stared at them for a few moments, enjoying how very attractive they were. They were also very obviously  _very_ aroused - as evidenced by their large, very hard, erection.  
  
"Come, beloveds. We are waiting for you, quite eagerly." Lantash smiled mischievously at her. "Ah, you may wish to remove some of your clothing first, of course." He leaned against the wall behind him, obviously intending to watch as she undressed.  
  
Sam blushed a little, which Jolinar quickly remedied. She decided she could do this - and that it might not be so bad. They had, after all, already seen her naked. Having made that decision, she spent a few moments looking at Lantash. "Very nice." She smiled at him, as she started removing her own clothing, wishing suddenly she was wearing something more sexy and easier to remove, than her BDUs. "You know... I'll just take off my clothes now, but maybe next time I'll wear something that can be removed in a more... ah...  _appealing_ way, if you get my drift." She felt her cheeks grow warmer again, and hurriedly pulled her t-shirt over her head, hiding her face.  
  
"Martouf and I agree that sounds  _most_ interesting, Samantha," Lantash said, openly ogling her.  
  
Grinning a little sheepishly, she unbuttoned her pants and pulled them off, then let her socks follow. She now stood before him wearing only bra and underpants - thankful she had picked black lace instead of white cotton. It was more than obvious from Lantash's expression that he appreciated what he saw. Sam had just unclasped her bra when he pulled her to him and swiftly removed her remaining clothing before kissing her deeply.  
  
He slid one hand down Sam's back, to her ass and started fondling it, while caressing one of her breasts with the other hand.   
  
They continued kissing, and when they finally took a break, they were both breathless. Lantash was about to kiss her again, when Sam managed to wriggle out of his grasp. "As wonderful as this is, Lantash, Jolinar and I really  _do_ want a bath before doing, ah, anything else - and we need to, uh, use the facilities also. It’ll just be a moment." She fled into the bathroom.  
  
Lantash moaned softly to himself and Martouf. "Of course, beloveds. We will be waiting, ah,  _patiently_."  
  
A short while later, Sam called from the bathroom. "The water is wonderful - will you come and join us?" She smiled at the speed with which they joined her and Jolinar in the pool. "You have really done a lovely job. It looks very pretty and the water smells wonderful," Sam said, indicating the candles Martouf and Lantash had lit in the bathroom to create a pleasant mood, and the fragrant bath oil they had added to the water.  
  
"Thank you." He smiled, pleased she liked it.  
  
"In return, perhaps we could, um, bathe you?" Sam winked at him. "Would you like that?"  
  
" _Absolutely_. We would like that very much, my Samantha and Jolinar," Lantash said, kissing her.  
  
"Good. Turn around." She grabbed a sponge and a bottle containing a pleasantly scented soap, then poured a generous amount on the sponge and started washing him. She began with his shoulders, then worked her way to his back, paying special attention to the area of the neck where Lantash could be most easily pleasured. She continued stroking him there for a while, making him moan, before going lower. His butt was just below water, but that did not stop her from washing it - and taking the opportunity to massage it.  
  
She poured some more soap on the sponge and began washing his chest, spending a moment to fondle each of his nipples, before moving down over his stomach. Going further down, she washed his now very hard cock, making him groan and thrust against her hand.   
  
" _Samantha_! You are testing our resolve," Lantash said, his voice rough with desire.   
  
"Patience." She smiled at him, then grabbed the bottle of shampoo and began washing his hair. After a few minutes, she took a step back, admiring him. "I think you’re clean enough now - I just need to wash off the soap..."  
  
"I can do that very quickly," Lantash said, immediately kneeling down and dipping himself completely under water. When he surfaced a few moments later, Sam had begun washing herself. Lantash looked at her for a little while, following her every movement as she slowly,  _sensually_ , washed her upper body, paying special attention to her breasts. He swallowed, and spoke, hoarsely. " _Samantha_ , we need you and Jolinar.  _Now_!"  
  
"Don't you want me to be clean first?" Sam teased, looking at him with mirth in her eyes.  
  
"You are clean enough!" He grabbed her and pulled her to him, kissing her fervently. She returned the kiss and deepened it, before pretending to try and get away. She squealed and giggled as she play-fought him, half-twisting out of his grip before he caught her again.  
  
"My naughty Samantha and Jolinar!" He murmured against her neck as he pressed himself against her back, holding her tight against him with one arm, as he fondled her breasts with the other hand.  
  
"Jolinar tells me you like your women that way," Sam observed, distantly, as she leaned into his caresses. She could feel the heat from the hardness that pressed against her, and was suddenly aching to feel his shaft inside her. She pushed back against him, rubbing his cock.  
  
He gasped, and kissed her neck hard, then slowly licked and nipped his way to the point where it met her shoulder. Sam moaned deeply, as he increased the pressure for a moment.   
  
His hand had strayed from her breasts, down over her stomach, and down between her legs. He dipped a finger inside her. "So very wet - and not just because of the water..."   
  
He kissed her on the side of the neck, as he found her clit and begun to stroke her gently there, circling it with his thumb. Her moans deepened, and he grinned as he continued pleasuring her, now and then rubbing himself against her in an attempt to relieve a little of the ache he felt. Soon, he promised himself and Martouf. Soon they would bury their shaft inside her pussy and pound into her until they came. Lantash groaned softly at the thought, echoing Martouf.  
  
Sam tensed, getting close to orgasm. Lantash pressed the tip of his shaft into her, then pushed forward hard, entering her deeply. They both gasped from the sensations, and for a moment neither moved. Then Lantash pushed her against the side of the pool and grabbed her hips, starting to thrust into her hard and fast. It took little time before Sam cried out, shuddering under him as she had an intense orgasm. Lantash groaned as her pussy contracted around his cock, and rammed himself into her a few more times, before he, too, came hard, collapsing against her.  
  
After a little while, Lantash managed to summon the strength to lift himself off her, afraid he was squeezing her uncomfortably. He helped Sam get up, and together they very quickly rinsed off any remaining soap, before drying off and going to bed.  
  
Sam snuggled up against Martouf and Lantash. Both she and Jolinar felt wonderful and very well pleasured. She half-turned and kissed their lovers. "Good night, beloveds. Sleep well."  
  
"Sleep well, Samantha and Jolinar. We love you."  
  
"And we love you."  
  
Jolinar was almost asleep already, and it did not take long before Martouf and Lantash drifted off to sleep as well. Sam remained awake for a short time longer, thinking about all that had happened and about the future.  
  
Earth was still under Apophis's rule, and most humans on the planet were surely slaves. It would be difficult to free the planet, and it might take a long time, even if it now seemed very likely the Tok'ra would ally with the 'free Tau'ri'. More tunnel crystals and other technology had already been sent to New Earth, so maybe things would begin to look up a little for them there.  
  
As for her personal life, she could not be happier. She got along great with Jolinar, and Martouf and Lantash were both wonderful, sweet, intelligent, and considerate.  
  
She decided to focus on that, for now. For the first time in many months, she was beginning to feel better and more confident about their future.  
  
They  _would_ succeed, somehow. Earth would be free again, even if it took years. She was suddenly certain of it.  
  
With that thought, she curled up closer to Martouf and Lantash, and joined her mates, and Jolinar in sleep.  
  
  
  
  
THE END.  
  



End file.
